Federal Agents Spraying Tear Gas at Protesters in Minneapolis Following Shooting

Federal agents spraying tear gas at protesters in Minneapolis, MN.

A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man believed to be a US citizen in Minneapolis on Saturday, the latest violent incident by law enforcement that has sparked widespread protests and condemnations by state and local officials.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference with other local officials that the 37-year-old man had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead. O’Hara said the victim had no criminal record beyond traffic tickets and had a permit to carry a weapon.

Alex Pretti

The man was identified by state and local officials as Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse.

President Donald Trump quickly backed the federal officials and accused Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of “inciting Insurrection” with their rhetoric.

Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander-at-large, said the man approached Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and “violently resisted” attempts to disarm him. Neither he nor other federal officials said he brandished the weapon.

“Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots,” he said in a statement.

Bovino said on CNN’s State of the Union that the agents who shot Pretti were moved out of Minneapolis and “more than likely” put on administrative duty.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem echoed Bovino’s remarks in a news conference at FEMA ahead of a winter storm and claimed, without presenting evidence, that Pretti had impeded the work of the Border Patrol and was a “domestic terrorist.”

Walz dismissed the federal officials’ accounts of Saturday’s shooting.

“It is nonsense, people. It’s nonsense and it’s lies,” Walz said in a news conference. “Thank God we have video.”

Frey described the widely circulated video.

“I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death,” Frey said.

O’Hara said there was no way to corroborate federal authorities’ version of events. “We do not know what happened prior to the recording that is online right now,” he said.

Members of Congress who represent Minnesota joined a late-afternoon news conference and suggested their support for a DHS funding bill was waning and complained about Noem’s “predetermined narrative.”

“We are, once again, now being asked to deny what we saw with our own eyes,” said Representative Kelly Morrison, a Minnesota Democrat. “We watched the videos of the masked federal agent shooting Alex in the back multiple times while he was pinned down by more than six other masked federal agents.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox News the Justice Department sent Walz a letter saying he “better support President Trump, he better support the men and women in law enforcement. Because if he doesn’t, we are.”

“Minnesotans and Minnesota law enforcement that continuously is being denigrated by this administration will continue to be the adults in the room, the professionals in the room, the decent human beings in the room that will keep the peace,” Walz said in his own news conference.

Authorities on Saturday fired tear gas at protesters angry over aggressive tactics used in federal immigration enforcement operations. O’Hara said officials were creating a protest zone where cars would be blocked out in order to contain the unrest sparked by the shootings, which now includes people throwing glass bottles, and chunks of ice, he said.

Federal agents point weapons amid tear gas fired at protesters in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.

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