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FORMER US PRESIDENTS Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have issued pointed calls for Americans to “stand up” and defend their values after the second killing of a citizen in Minneapolis by immigration agents.
The Trump administration has faced growing pressure over its mass immigration crackdown, which has further intensified after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, on Saturday.
He was shot dead less than three weeks after an immigration officer fired on Renee Good, also 37, killing her in her car in the same Midwestern city.
Trump administration officials have been quick to claim Pretti had intended to harm the federal agents – as they did after Good’s death – pointing to a pistol they claimed was discovered on him.
However, video shared widely on social media and verified by US media following the shooting shows that Pretti was holding a phone and never drew a weapon, with agents firing at him seconds after he was sprayed in the face with chemical irritant and thrown to the ground.
US President Donald Trump provocatively attributed the deaths to Minnesota’s Democratic elected officials, including Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, writing on his Truth Social platform: “Democrat run Sanctuary Cities and States are REFUSING to cooperate with ICE.”
“Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos,” he added.
After top officials described Pretti as an “assassin” who had assaulted the agents, Pretti’s parents issued a statement condemning the administration’s “sickening lies” about their son.
“Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman Ice just pushed down all while being pepper-sprayed,” they said.
“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
Further protests took place in Minneapolis yesterday, with those gathered denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One person held a cardboard sign that read: “Be Pretti, be Good.” Protests have also taken place in other US cities.
The double tragedies have stirred outrage, including from two of Trump’s Democratic presidential predecessors.
In a statement last night, Barack and Michelle Obama said that Pretti’s shooting should be a “wake-up call to every American” that core US values “are increasingly under assault.”
“For weeks now, people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,” the Obamas said.
They said Trump administration officials “seem eager to escalate the situation” by offering explanations about the shootings of Pretti and Renee Good “that arent’ informed by any serious investigation – and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence.
This has to stop.
Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come. This is one of them. pic.twitter.com/fr4TclLBZd
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) January 25, 2026
Hours later, Bill Clinton delivered a fierce indictment of the current administration, saying peaceful protesters “have been arrested, beaten, teargassed, and most searingly, in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed.”
“All of this is unacceptable,” Clinton said in a statement.
“To make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we’ve seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations be local authorities.”
Clinton said over the course of a lifetime, “we face only a few moments where the decision we make the actions we take will shape our history for years to come”
This is one of them. If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back.
“It is up to all of us who believe in the promise of American democracy to stand up, speak out, and show that our nation still belongs to We the people.”
Speaking to NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said an investigation was necessary.
Despite administration officials defending the officer who shot Pretti, Trump – in a brief interview with the Wall Street Journal yesterday – declined twice to say whether the officer had acted appropriately.
“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” he said.
Multiple senators from Trump’s Republican Party have called for a thorough probe into the killing, and for cooperation with local authorities.
Andrew Garbarino, the Republican chairman of the House committee on homeland security, has requested that officials from ICE, Customs and Border Protection and US Citizenship and Immigration Services testify before the committee.
Texas representative Michael McCaul said he is “troubled by the events that have unfolded” in Minneapolis.
“As an attorney and former federal prosecutor, I believe a thorough investigation is necessary-both to get to the bottom of these incidents and to maintain Americans’ confidence in our justice system,” he said.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has also called for an investigation into the shooting of Pretti. The organisation responded after Bill Essayli, the Trump-appointed US attorney in California, wrote on social media: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”
“This sentiment… is dangerous and wrong. Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalisations and demonising law-abiding citizens,” the NRA said.
Trump’s administration controversially excluded local investigators from a probe into Good’s death.
Walz posed a question directly to the president during a press briefing yesterday, asking: “What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state?”
Business leaders from 60 corporations headquartered in Minnesota – including retailer Target, food giant General Mills and several professional sports franchises – have signed an open letter “calling for an immediate de-escalation of tensions” and for authorities to work together.
Thousands of federal immigration agents have been deployed to heavily Democratic Minneapolis for weeks, after conservative media reported on alleged fraud by Somali immigrants, which Trump has repeatedly amplified.
The city, known for its bitterly cold winters, has one of the country’s highest concentrations of Somali immigrants.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison pushed back against Trump’s claim, telling reporters “it’s not about fraud, because if he sent people who understand forensic accounting, we’d be having a different conversation. But he’s sending armed masked men.”
Since “Operation Metro Surge” began, many residents have carried whistles to notify others of the presence of immigration agents, while sometimes violent skirmishes have broken out between the officers and protesters.
Recent polling has shown voters increasingly upset with Trump’s domestic immigration operations, as videos of masked agents seizing people off the streets – including children – continue to be shared.
With reporting from AFP 2026
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