Senate Democrats and Republicans call for investigation into killing of Alex Pretti; NPR, January 25, 2026

 Luke Garrett , NPR; Senate Democrats and Republicans call for investigation into killing of Alex Pretti

"Congressional leaders are pushing back against the Trump administration's account of the killing of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old U.S. citizen shot dead by federal officers during an immigration enforcement protest in Minneapolis Saturday...

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., warned the Trump administration against any attempt to shut out local and state law enforcement from the investigation. 

"There must be a thorough and impartial investigation into yesterday's Minneapolis shooting," Tillis said in a post Sunday morning. "Any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump's legacy."

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., also called for a "full joint federal and state investigation" and said the "credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake" in a statement. 

On Sunday, Trump administration officials continued to defend the federal agents who killed Pretti. The head of President Trump's immigration operation, Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, told CNN that the federal agents are "the victims" and said Pretti "perpetrated violence" during an active immigration enforcement operation.

"That suspect injected himself into that law enforcement situation with a weapon," Bovino said. 

The video evidence and eyewitness accounts that have surfaced so far refute that assertion. There has been no evidence that NPR has verified of Pretti brandishing his handgun at any time during the encounter with federal agents.

On Saturday, Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said if a U.S. citizen approaches law enforcement with a gun, federal officers "will be legally justified in shooting you." 

The powerful National Rifle Association and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., criticized Essayli. 

"Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it's a Constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don't understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government," Massie said on X. 

Chair of the House Oversight Committee James Comer, R-Ky., suggested Sunday that Trump remove ICE from Minneapolis because local law enforcement aren't cooperating. 

"If the mayor and the governor are going to put our ICE officials in harm's way, and there's a chance of losing more innocent lives or whatever, then maybe go to another city and let the people of Minneapolis decide do we want to continue to have all of these illegals," Comer said on Fox News."

The Trump Administration Is Lying to Our Faces. Congress Must Act.; The New York Times, January 25, 2026

The Editorial Board, The New York Times; The Trump Administration Is Lying to Our Faces. Congress Must Act.

"The federal government owes Americans a thorough investigation and a truthful accounting of the Saturday morning shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti on a Minneapolis street. When the government kills, it has an obligation to demonstrate that it has acted in the public interest. Instead, the Trump administration is once again engaged in a perversion of justice.

Mere hours after Mr. Pretti died, Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, declared without offering evidence that Mr. Pretti had “committed an act of domestic terrorism.” Gregory Bovino, a border patrol official, offered his own assessment: “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

These unfounded and inflammatory judgments pre-empt the outcome of an investigation, which the Department of Homeland Security has promised. They also appear wholly inconsistent with several videos recorded at the scene.

Those videos showed that Mr. Pretti had nothing but a phone in his hands when he was tackled by border patrol agents, and that he never drew the gun he was carrying (and reportedly had a license to carry). Indeed, the videos seem to show that one federal agent took the gun from Mr. Pretti moments before a different agent shot him from behind. Separate analyses by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, CBS News and otherorganizations all concluded that the videos contradict the Trump administration’s description of the killing.

The administration is urging Americans to reject the evidence of their eyes and ears. Ms. Noem and Mr. Bovino are lying in defiance of obvious truths. They are lying in the manner of authoritarian regimes that require people to accept lies as a demonstration of power...

It is premature to reach conclusions about what exactly happened on that Minneapolis street. The Trump administration should not have done so, and we will not do so. What is clear, however, is that the federal government needs to re-establish public faith in the agencies and officers who are carrying out Mr. Trump’s crackdown on immigration. If the administration is allowed to act with impunity and avoid even the most basic accountability, the result will be more violence."

The Minneapolis Shooting Demands a Real Investigation (w/ Andrew Weissmann); The Bulwark, January 24, 2026

SARAH LONGWELL AND ANDREW WEISSMANN, The Bulwark; The Minneapolis Shooting Demands a Real Investigation (w/ Andrew Weissmann)

"Sarah Longwell is joined by Andrew Weissmann for his reaction to the second killing of a civilian in Minnesota by federal agents. Andrew is professor of practice at the NYU School of Law who served as lead prosecutor in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office from 2017 to 2019, and was General Counsel for the FBI from 2011 to 2013. They discuss the roles of the First and Second Amendments in the case, the contradictions and falsehoods issued by the government, and why it is important for people to continue speaking out and come forward with any video evidence in cases like this."

Video contradicts Trump’s claim man killed in Minneapolis was a ‘gunman’; The Guardian, January 24, 2026

Robert Mackey, The Guardian ; Video contradicts Trump’s claim man killed in Minneapolis was a ‘gunman’

"Video recorded by witnesses to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday shows that the 37-year-old registered nurse was holding a phone, not a gun, when he was tackled and shot, directly contradicting the claims of senior Trump administration officials that he threatened to “massacre” officers.

In the aftermath of the killing, which was recorded by multiple witnesses, the Department of Homeland Security released an image of a handgun, which Donald Trump referred to as “the gunman’s gun” in a social media post. Kristi Noem, the DHS secretary, said at a briefing that Pretti had “approached US border patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun”, though she later declined to say whether or not Pretti pulled the gun out.

Greg Bovino, a senior border patrol commander who was reprimanded by a federal judge last year for lying, also told reporters that Pretti had approached border patrol agents with the same gun.

“The agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, a border patrol agent fired defensive shots,” Bovino said. “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

That account is directly contradicted by video evidence of the incident reviewed by the Guardian.

While Pretti was legally licensed to have a gun, it is unclear whether he had one on his person at the time of the incident, and the videos do not show him ever having one in his hand.

Video provided to the Guardian by a Minneapolis resident who drove past the scene at 8.58am local time, as a group of observers recorded video on their phones of federal officers on Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis, showed Pretti standing on the street holding up his phone as one officer reached out and shoved him back. Pretti retreated, but appeared to continue recording the officer as he did so."

VA Doctor Remembers Alex Pretti, 37-Year-Old Man Killed by ICE, as ‘Kind and Helpful’ ICU Nurse (Exclusive); People, January 24, 2026

Toria Sheffield and 

Wendy Grossman Kantor

, People; VA Doctor Remembers Alex Pretti, 37-Year-Old Man Killed by ICE, as ‘Kind and Helpful’ ICU Nurse (Exclusive)

 "Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis, is being remembered by one of his colleagues as a 'kind guy' and a “very, very skilled nurse.”

“He was energetic, he was kind. He was always quick to have a joke or a laugh,” Dr. Dimitri Drekonja, an infectious disease physician at the VA Medical Center where Pretti was employed, told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.

“He was very capable. When he gave a summary of the shift … [he] had all the information at his fingertips. He would tell me how the family was doing. He was a very, very skilled nurse,” he continued. 

Drekonja, 51, went on to say that the “biggest thing” he wants others to know about Pretti is “that this was a kind and helpful guy — and nothing over the years that I knew him contradicted that. He was always willing to help. Whether it was a small task, whether it was patient care, whether it was, ‘Hey, I can give you a ride over, we're gonna meet for drinks after work.’ He was just a really kind guy.”

“It’s just been gutting,” he continued of Pretti's death, adding that he and other colleagues at the hospital “want people to know that [Pretti] was a good person. He was such a nice guy.”

Drekonja additionally said that he and Pretti shared an interest in mountain biking, and that they would often discuss their favorite local routes.

Pretti had been a registered nurse since January 2021, according to his nursing license, obtained by PEOPLE. He previously worked at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Pretti was shot and killed on Saturday, Jan. 24, at about 9:00 a.m. local time."

Video Contradicts Trump Administration Account of Minneapolis Killing; Mother Jones, January 24, 2026

Alex Nguyen and Noah Lanard, Mother Jones; Video Contradicts Trump Administration Account of Minneapolis Killing

"A new video published on social media contradicts the Department of Homeland Security’s account of why federal agents killed 37-year-old Minneapolis man Alex Pretti in broad daylight on Saturday.

The graphic video, which was uploaded by Drop Site News, shows Pretti appearing to direct traffic and film federal agents on his phone. Soon after, he appears to be pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by multiple agents. About a half-dozen agents are on top of Pretti or in his immediate vicinity when he is initially shot. The gunshots continue after Pretti is on the ground. 

The video, along with others recorded from different angles, refute the more than 150-word account of the shooting that DHS published on social media on Saturday afternoon. In that statement, DHS claimed that “an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.” 

DHS has tried to back that up by saying Pretti had a handgun on him at the time, sharing a photo of it in the same social media post. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said on Saturday that Pretti appeared to be a licensed gun owner. But the video published by Drop Site makes clear that he was not holding a weapon in the lead-up to the shooting, or when federal agents forcefully took him to the ground. Instead, he only appears to be holding his phone to record the situation."

The Instant Smear Campaign Against Border Patrol Shooting Victim Alex Pretti; Wired, January 24, 2026

David Gilbert , Wired; The Instant Smear Campaign Against Border Patrol Shooting Victim Alex Pretti

"Within minutes of Alex Pretti being shot and killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, the Trump administration, backed by right-wing influencers, launched a smear campaign against the victim, labeling him a “terrorist” and a “lunatic.”"

Alex Jeffrey Pretti Knew He Wanted to Help Others; The New York Times, January 24, 2026

Corina Knoll, Julie Bosman and Maia Coleman, The New York Times ; Alex Jeffrey Pretti Knew He Wanted to Help Others

"The man fatally shot by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis was Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, officials said.

Mr. Pretti, who was 37, was a registered nurse who worked in the intensive-care unit at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis, according to interviews and public records, and lived in an apartment in Minneapolis a short drive away from where he was killed.

He had a firearms permit, required by state law in Minnesota to carry a handgun, officials said.

Colleagues and acquaintances of Mr. Pretti were stunned by his death, recalling a friendly neighbor and hardworking professional who was devoted to his patients.

Dr. Dimitri Drekonja said that the two had worked together for years. Mr. Pretti was capable, competent and friendly, he said, the kind of person who cared deeply about his work and his patients.

“He was a really great colleague and a really great friend,” he said. “The default look on his face was a smile.”

The two chatted regularly about mountain biking, one of Mr. Pretti’s passions.

Family members of Mr. Pretti declined to comment on Saturday. Michael Pretti, Mr. Pretti’s father, told The Associated Press that he had warned his son to be careful in Minneapolis.

“We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”

Mr. Pretti received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in 2011, a spokeswoman said. He graduated from a high school in Green Bay, Wis., in 2006, and was listed on the honor roll in a local newspaper. His parents now live in Colorado, and his former spouse lives in California."

Videos Show Moments in Which Agents Killed a Man in Minneapolis; The New York Times, January 24, 2026

Devon Lum and Haley Willis, The New York Times; Videos Show Moments in Which Agents Killed a Man in Minneapolis

"Videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning.

The Department of Homeland Security said the episode began after a man “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and they tried to disarm him. The statement did not specify whether the gun was in the man’s hands or merely on his body.

Footage shows Mr. Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him."

White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest; The Guardian, January 22, 2026

Sam Levine, The Guardian; White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest

"The White House posted a digitally altered image of a woman who was arrested on Thursday in a case touted by the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to make it seem as if she was dramatically crying, a Guardian analysis of the image has found.

The woman, Nekima Levy Armstrong, also appears to have darker skin in the altered image. Armstrong was one of three people arrested on Thursday in connection to a demonstration that disrupted church services in St Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday. Demonstrators alleged that one of the pastors, David Easterwood, was the acting field director of the St Paul Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. Bondi announced the arrests on social media on Thursday morning.

The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, posted an image of Armstrong’s arrest at 10.21am on Thursday, less than an hour after Bondi’s announcement. The image shows a law enforcement agent, face blurred out, escorting Armstrong, who appears to be handcuffed. Armstrong, dressed in all black, appears to be composed in the picture.

A little more than 30 minutes later, the White House posted another image of Armstrong’s arrest in which she is crying. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, reposted the image. The image posted by the White House is altered, a Guardian analysis found."

Fears Iran's internet shutdown could lead to 'extreme digital isolation'; BBC, January 18, 2026

Joe Tidy,BBC cybersecurity correspondentand

Farshad Bayan,BBC Persian

, BBC; Fears Iran's internet shutdown could lead to 'extreme digital isolation'

 "Iran is 10 days into one of the most extreme internet shutdowns in history, with 92 million citizens cut off from all internet services and even disruption to phone and text messaging.

The Iranian government cut off services on 8 January, apparently to stifle dissent and prevent international scrutiny of a government crack down on protesters.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the internet was cut off in response to what he described as externally directed "terrorist operations".

The government has not said when internet services will return, but new reports suggest that, behind the scenes, the authorities may be making plans to restrict it permanently. 

On 15 January, the news website IranWire reported that government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told journalists that international web access will not be available until at least the Iranian New Year in late March. 

Internet freedom observers at FilterWatch believe the government is hastily implementing new systems and rules to cut Iran off from the international internet."

DOI cracks down on stickers covering Trump's face on national park passes; SF Gate, January 5, 2026

Sam Hill, SF Gate; DOI cracks down on stickers covering Trump's face on national park passes

[Kip Currier: It's still hard to believe this news story is real -- the Department of the Interior is voiding people's U.S. National Parks passes if Donald Trump's face (yes -- his face is on the entrance passes!) is covered up by anything -- and not from The Onion.]

[Excerpt]

"Covering up Donald Trump’s face on an America the Beautiful pass may come with an extra cost at national park entrance gates this year.

The Department of the Interior recently updated its “Void if Altered” rules for 2026, explicitly flagging stickers and other coverings as alterations that could invalidate the pass. The move appears to respond to visitors preparing to cover the image of Trump, which was set to begin appearing on passes Jan. 1 despite legal challenges.

An internal email from department business specialists Allison Christofis and Jeff Beauchamp to regional National Park Service staff shared updated guidelines for passes this year, highlighting changes to the department’s altered pass policy. The email was provided to SFGATE by a Park Service employee who requested anonymity to protect their job, which was granted in accordance with Hearst’s ethics policy."

Judge Criticizes Immigration Agents in Chicago: ‘Use of Force Shocks the Conscience’; The New York Times, November 6, 2025

 Julie Bosman, The New York Times; Judge Criticizes Immigration Agents in Chicago: ‘Use of Force Shocks the Conscience’

"A federal judge castigated the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday for its aggressive use of force during an illegal immigration crackdown in Chicago in recent weeks, banning the use of tear gas and other crowd-control weapons “unless necessary to stop the immediate threat of physical harm.”

Judge Sara L. Ellis, of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, said that government officials, including the senior Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, had repeatedly lied about their own tactics and the actions of protesters."

Judge orders feds to dial back aggressive response to journalists, protesters in Chicago area; ABC 7, October 10, 2025

Mark Rivera and Barb Markoff, Christine Tressel and Tom Jones, ABC 7 ; Judge orders feds to dial back aggressive response to journalists, protesters in Chicago area

"A ruling in federal court Thursday restricts the tactics used by the Department of Homeland Security as they engage with protesters, members of the media and the public, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.

The temporary restraining order, or TRO, governs the behavior of federal agents in the entire Northern District, not just at the Broadview ICE processing facility, where there have seen numerous flare ups between ICE agents and the public.

It limits the indiscriminate use of riot control weapons, against peaceful protesters and journalists and requires nearly all federal agents to have visible identification even when wearing riot gear.

Rev. David Black of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago was shot in the head with a pepper bullet while peacefully protesting outside of the facility in Broadview last month by an ice agent standing on the roof of a building. He was able to get up after being hit."

Pastor shot in the head by ICE agents sues Trump administration over First Amendment threats in Chicago; Independent, October 8, 2025

 Alex Woodward, Independent; Pastor shot in the head by ICE agents sues Trump administration over First Amendment threats in Chicago

A Presbyterian minister in Chicago is suing Donald Trump’s administration after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were captured in viral video firing pepper balls at his head during protests against the president’s anti-immigration agenda.

The Rev. David Black joined a lawsuit with Chicago reporters and protesters accusing the administration of unconstitutional threats to their First Amendment rights and religious freedoms with “a pattern of extreme brutality” designed to “silence the press and civilians.”

Last month, Black — dressed in black and wearing a clerical collar while standing with demonstrators — was hit with chemical agents while praying in front of an ICE facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb that has emerged as a flashpoint for protests against the administration as the president deploys National Guard troops to Illinois."

Video shows federal agent shoot Chicago pastor in head with pepper ball during Broadview ICE protest; Fox 32 Chicago, October 8, 2025

Nic Flosi, Fox 32 Chicago; Video shows federal agent shoot Chicago pastor in head with pepper ball during Broadview ICE protest

"A video shows a federal agent firing pepper balls at protesters outside the ICE processing center in the Chicago suburb of Broadview last month, striking a Chicago pastor in the head.

One of the agents begins firing pepper balls and one of them hits Pastor David Black of the First Presbyterian Church in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Black then falls to the ground as others come to his aid.

Hayes told Storyful she had been at the protest only minutes when she saw Black get hit. In a post on Bluesky, she said Black was OK."

Armed with traffic cones, protesters are immobilizing driverless cars; NPR, August 26, 2023

 Dara Kerr, NPR; Armed with traffic cones, protesters are immobilizing driverless cars

"An anonymous activist group called Safe Street Rebel is responsible for this so-called coning incident and dozens of others over the past few months. The group's goal is to incapacitate the driverless cars roaming San Francisco's streets as a protest against the city being used as a testing ground for this emerging technology."

Israelis’ defiance of Netanyahu holds a lesson for anyone who cares about democracy; The Guardian, July 28, 2023

 Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian; Israelis’ defiance of Netanyahu holds a lesson for anyone who cares about democracy

"That prompts a troubling question for all those engaged in the fight against nationalist populism, wherever they are. If all the strength and numbers Israel’s pro-democracy movement has mustered are not enough, what exactly will it take? Can it really be that a nation is powerless to stop a leader bent on destroying his country to save himself? That thought is almost too bleak to contemplate. Which is why everyone who cares about democracy, including those who are distant from Israel, should desperately want those protesters to succeed. We need them to win."

'This is violence against Donald Trump': rightwingers interrupt Julius Caesar play; Guardian, June 17, 2017

Calla Wahlquist and Lois Beckett, Guardian; 'This is violence against Donald Trump': rightwingers interrupt Julius Caesar play

"A rightwing protester has been charged with trespassing after interrupting a New York production of Julius Caesar during the assassination scene and shouting: “This is violence against Donald Trump.”

The protester, who later identified herself as Laura Loomer, interrupted the Shakespeare in the Park production on Friday night and shouted “this is political violence against the right” while audience members booed and told her to get off the stage.

The incident was filmed by Jack Posobiec, a rightwing provocateur best known for helping to spread the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. He stood up as Loomer was escorted off stage by security guards and yelled at the crowd: “You are all Goebbels. You are all Nazis like Joseph Goebbels … You are inciting terrorists. The blood of Steve Scalise is on your hands.”...

In a statement issued after the play, director Oskar Eustis said: “Free speech for all, but let’s not stop the show.”

“The staff removed the protesters peacefully and the show resumed with the line ‘Liberty! Freedom!’,” he told the New York Times. “The audience rose to their feet to thank the actors, and we joyfully continued. Free speech for all, but let’s not stop the show.”"