United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were involved in a shooting in Minneapolis that resulted in the death of one individual, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed on Saturday.
Video footage purporting to show the incident that has spread online appears to show officers swarming a suspect before one officer draws his sidearm and shoots. Other officers then appear to also open fire on the individual as he lies on the ground. The authenticity of the footage has not been verified by The Jerusalem Post.
According to a DHS statement released on X/Twitter, the man who was killed was armed when an altercation with ICE agents began.
During a press conference held shortly after the shooting, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara stated that Minneapolis police were called to the scene in the morning and found the male victim with multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, he said.
According to O'Hara, the Minneapolis Police have identified the victim as a 37-year-old male who was a Minneapolis resident.
Local media identified him as Alex Pretti, 37. People who identified themselves on social media as former colleagues said he worked as a nurse.
State, local, and federal law enforcement are on scene as the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The City of Minneapolis urged the public to "remain calm and avoid the immediate area" in a statement released on social media.
Minnesota Governor decries shooting as 'horrific,' 'sickening'
Shortly after the shooting, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz stated that he spoke to the White House regarding the incident, which he described as "horrific" and "sickening."
Walz called for US President Donald Trump to end ICE operations, urging Trump to "pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now."
Trump additionally released a statement regarding the shooting on Truth Social in which he claimed the ICE agents acted "to protect themselves."
The president questioned why Minnesota Police were not present to protect the federal officers, alleging that "many of these Police were not allowed to do their job" due to Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey having "called them off."
"LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!" Trump requested.
He further linked the immigration crackdown to the uncovering of widespread tax fraud in Minnesota that shook the state at the end of last year.
Trump called Walz and Frey "sanctimonious political fools" who "should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota."
Both Walz and Frey both publicly called for the lessening of ICE presence in Minnesota following the Saturday shooting, which Trump alleged was "pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric" aimed at "inciting Insurrection."
Second deadly Minneapolis ICE shooting this month
Earlier this month, on January 7, a similar incident occured when an ICE agent shot and killed a woman who attempted to disrupt an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
The victim, later identified as 37‑year‑old Renee Good, blocked ICE agents with her car before attempting to flee, hitting an officer, who then fatally shot Good.
Following that shooting, anti-ICE protests erupted across Minnesota, with solidarity protests simultaneously carried out in other US states.
Mathilda Heller and Reuters contributed to this report.