The name of the man shot by federal agents in Minneapolis has been revealed. Protests erupt again in the city.
37-year-old Alex Pretty, a U.S. citizen, lived in Minneapolis and worked as a nurse at a local veterans' hospital.
U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) officers shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, less than three weeks after Rene Hood was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, writes the BBC. Protests have resumed in the city.
Authorities said the deceased was 37-year-old Alex Preeti, a U.S. citizen who lived in Minneapolis and worked as a nurse at a local veterans hospital.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS, which includes USBP and ICE) said the deceased had a gun and allegedly resisted when federal agents tried to disarm him.
According to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, video footage from the scene proves that this version is nonsense.
«How many more residents, how many more Americans have to die or be seriously injured for this operation [to combat illegal immigration] to end?» Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a press conference.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen criticized Frey and Walz, accusing them of siding with «people who break the law.»
U.S. President Donald Trump accused Minneapolis and Minnesota authorities of «inciting insurrection.»
Nielsen said at a press conference that Alex Preeti approached federal agents with a 9‑millimeter semi-automatic pistol. After officers tried to disarm him, he began to «react aggressively.»
One of the officers, according to the minister, opened «defensive fire» because he feared for his life and the lives of other officers.
Minneapolis police said the deceased legally owned the weapon.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz earlier called on U.S. President Donald Trump to immediately withdraw thousands of ICE and border patrol officers sent to Minnesota as part of a campaign to combat illegal immigration.
«I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting incident by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had enough. This is disgusting. The President must stop this operation. Get those thousands of aggressive and untrained personnel out of Minnesota. Now,» Walz wrote on X.
What is known about the deceased Alex Preeti?
Preeti, 37, worked as an intensive care nurse at a veterans hospital in Minneapolis; he joined the protests after Rene Hood's death.
«He cared deeply about people and was very upset about what was happening in Minneapolis and across the U.S. with ICE, as were millions of other people,» his father, Michael Preeti, told the Associated Press. «He believed that participating in protests was a way to express his concern for others.»
According to his father, his son called his parents «about two weeks ago» and told them that he knew he shouldn't «do any stupid things» during the protests.
«Alex was a good man who cared deeply for his family and friends, as well as the American veterans he cared for as an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Hospital. Alex wanted to change the world for the better,» said his parents, Michael and Susan Preeti, in a statement released later.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at the scene of the shooting in South Minneapolis, on Nicollet Avenue and surrounding streets. Federal law enforcement officers dispersed them, including with tear gas. A spontaneous memorial arose at the site of Preeti's death.
Shortly after what happened in Minneapolis, a video circulated on social media showing several people in camouflage and masks fighting with a civilian on the sidewalk of a city street, knocking him to the ground, and then one of them firing six shots: first one, and then five more in a row a second later.
Another video, taken from a car from a distance of several dozen meters, does not show the scene itself, but shows people in camouflage running towards it, and then eight shots are heard.
The deceased was shot right in front of a building with signs for the «African American Family Center» and the «New American Development Center.»
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Democratic Party, advised Trump and his Republican allies on social media to watch these videos, and called on Republican congressmen not to remain silent and to «stop participating» in what is happening.
Trump advisor Stephen Miller, in response, accused the Minnesota leadership of provoking an insurrection.
«A domestic terrorist is trying to kill federal law enforcement officers — and that's how you react? […] You and the entire Democratic leadership of the state are fanning the flames of insurrection with the sole purpose of stopping the deportation of illegal aliens who have invaded our country,» Miller wrote on social media.
Donald Trump himself spoke in the same vein on his social network Truth Social.
«The mayor and governor are fueling insurrection with their pompous, dangerous and brazen rhetoric! […] Let our ICE patriots do their job. 12,000 illegal alien criminals, many of them prone to violence, arrested and removed from Minnesota. If they had stayed there, you would have seen something much worse than what you are witnessing today!» Trump wrote.
In the same post, the U.S. President, without providing evidence, accused Democratic politicians in charge of Minnesota of covering up the theft of billions of dollars, as well as of not allowing local police to protect federal agents carrying out immigrant arrests.
In Venezuela, there will not just be the release of political prisoners, but an amnesty, covering all years. And the local 'American prison' will be transformed into a public space 1717
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