2 Border Patrol agents who fired guns in Alex Pretti fatal shooting put on leave
A man was arrested after he tried to spray Rep. Ilhan Omar with a substance at a Minneapolis town hall last night.
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What we know
- The two Border Patrol agents who fired their guns during the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minnesota have been placed on administrative leave, according to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
- A preliminary DHS report sent to Congress detailing Pretti’s killing Saturday said two officers fired their weapons during the struggle but did not confirm federal officials’ claims that he was “brandishing” a gun.
- President Donald Trump said this week he would reshuffle his immigration operation amid widespread backlash to the killings of Pretti and Renee Good.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and border czar Tom Homan met yesterday and “agreed on the need for an ongoing dialogue and will continue working toward those goals,” according to the governor’s office. Homan also met with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
- The FBI is investigating the attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., at a Minneapolis town hall yesterday. A man was arrested and placed in police custody after allegedly spraying her with a substance.
Senators explore off-ramps to prevent a shutdown as Democrats lay out DHS reforms
Reporting from Washington
Senators met privately today to discuss off-ramps to prevent a government shutdown this weekend, with both parties recognizing that a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security cannot pass in its current form.
A recent funding deal that passed the House last week has been upended by the DHS killing of Pretti in Minnesota over the weekend — and the subsequent public outcry, which prompted Democrats and a top Republican to say the department should not be funded without policy changes.
The deadline is 11:59 p.m. ET Friday, leaving little time to hash out a solution that can achieve the 60 votes needed in the Senate.
One idea that has gained traction: a short-term funding bill for DHS while the two parties negotiate changes to the department, along with the five remaining appropriations bills to fund the rest of the government through Sept. 30.
2 federal agents involved in Pretti’s shooting were immediately put on leave, DHS says
Laura Strickler and Peter Alexander
The two federal agents who fired shots in Pretti’s fatal shooting were placed on administrative leave immediately after the shooting Saturday, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
The new reporting directly contradicts what Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who was leading its efforts in Minneapolis, said over the weekend, when he announced that the Customs and Border Protection agents involved were still on the job, working in “other locations” for their safety.
“All agents that were involved in that scene are working, not in Minneapolis, but in other locations,” Bovino told reporters Sunday.
“That’s for their safety,” he said. “There’s this thing called doxxing, and the safety of our employees is very important to us. We’re going to keep those employees safe.”
Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Justice Department responds to Minnesota’s motion for preliminary injunction
Gary Grumbach and Marlene Lenthang
The Justice Department has asked a court in a new legal filing not to grant Minnesota a preliminary injunction that would halt federal immigration operations.
The state of Minnesota, along with cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, had argued that the federal government is violating the 10th Amendment, which limits federal power and enshrines state rights. They argue that the federal government is punishing Minnesota for its policy choices in an effort to coerce changes.
The Justice Department rejected that take as “unprecedented” and “groundless” in a new court filing. It doubled down on the assertion that Operation Metro Surge is designed to enforce federal law in Minnesota — “and the actions of federal officers over the past six weeks match this purpose,” the filing said.
The Justice Department argued that if states have the freedom to enact sanctuary policies under the 10h Amendment, then “more federal officers may be needed in Minnesota to fill the gap” as a “natural consequence,” not a “punishment.”
The filing also downplayed a Truth Social post in which Trump wrote: “FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING” — arguing that “such a singular statement is of little relevance, especially given Operation Metro Surge’s facially valid justification.”
The Justice Department asked the court to deny the motion, saying that “discussions between federal and state officials are now active and ongoing,” and warning such a move would be “an extraordinary rewriting of foundational federalism principles through which any and all States could supplant federal priorities with their own.”
Minnesota senators call on Republicans to help reform ICE
Dareh Gregorian and Katie Taylor
Minnesota senators call for change in DHS leadership
Minnesota’s Democratic senators, Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, spoke on the Senate floor and called on their Republican colleagues to help with reforms at ICE.
“We have a full-blown dangerous emergency unfolding in Minnesota. It is happening right now as we speak. And we need your help to end it. America needs your help,” Smith said, adding that ICE’s and CBP’s actions had led to a “coalition of the horrified.”
The senators laid out the reforms they would like to see and that Democrats are pushing for in the pending government funding bills, including an end to roving patrols, a proper training system and code of conduct, no more masks for officers and the implementation of body cameras.
“I truly believe that we can find agreement on both sides of the aisle for a path forward,” Smith said.
The senators also called for leadership change at DHS, with Klobuchar rejecting the administration’s claims that federal forces are there to investigate fraud. She said they’re engaged in a “shock and awe” spectacle “meant to intimidate.”
“There are 3,000 federal officers in Minnesota, and I cannot state it more unequivocally: ICE must leave Minnesota,” she said.
Texas congressman describes 5-year-old in immigration detention as ‘lethargic’
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, visited today with a 5-year-old boy and his father who are being held in a Texas detention center after they were detained in Minneapolis last week and said the boy was “lethargic.”
Castro said he met with Liam Conejo Ramos and his father at a family detention center in Dilley for about 30 minutes.
The boy’s father told Castro that Liam has been very depressed and that he is not eating well and sleeping a lot, Castro said. The boy asks about his classmates, his family, his mom and the backpack and the blue bunny hat he was wearing when he ended up in ICE custody. Castro said he demanded Liam’s release.
“Liam Ramos is emblematic of the inhumanity of our detention system and ICE operations,” Castro said at a news conference in San Antonio.
He and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, also D-Texas, visited with several children, including a 2-month-old baby who had been in custody four or five days, Castro said. Crockett said several parents told them their children were depressed, not eating and vomiting.
Some of the detainees said they were not getting any education, Crockett said. When she questioned officials, they told her “we’re working on it,” she said. She said that officials gave them information that said the average stay of families was 28 days but that “we didn’t meet anybody who had been there for less than probably two months.”
Protesters who demonstrated outside the facility while the lawmakers visited clashed with troopers who deployed canisters to disperse them.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FBI takes over investigation into incident at Rep. Ilhan Omar town hall
Ryan J. Reilly and Kyla Guilfoil
The FBI is now investigating the assault on Omar, it told NBC News tonight.
“The FBI is investigating this matter. To maintain the integrity of the ongoing investigation, no additional details are available for release at this time,” the bureau said in the statement.
Trump’s top federal law enforcement officials have largely stayed quiet about the attack against Omar, even though it’s a federal crime to assault a member of Congress. The statute explicitly states that assaults on federal lawmakers shall be investigated by the FBI.
Video shows Alex Pretti interacting with federal agents the week before his death
Laura Strickler, Colin Sheeley, Marin Scott and Marlene Lenthang
New video shows Alex Pretti interacting with federal agents days before fatal shooting
Video shows Pretti interacting with federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 13, a little over a week before Border Patrol agents shot and killed him.
The video was recorded by The News Movement, which said it responded to a tip about agents blocking the street at the intersection of East 36th Street and Park Avenue in Minneapolis shortly after 10 a.m. A family representative confirmed that Pretti is depicted in the video and that the family knew about the incident after it happened.
The video showed Pretti yelling at federal immigration agents and kicking the back of a vehicle used by agents, breaking a taillight. It’s not clear what happened before the interaction.
The video shows an agent getting out of the vehicle, grabbing Pretti and tackling him to the ground as witnesses scream “Stop! Stop!” Meanwhile, other uniformed officers deploy gas toward the crowd.
At least three agents try to keep Pretti down, but he manages to get away and runs toward people standing nearby, the video shows. When he turns, what appears to be a gun is visible, tucked into the back of his waistband. He does not ever appear to reach for it in the clip.
He and others continued to yell at agents, urging them to leave.
By the end of the clip, billowing smoke had taken over the streets, cars were honking and people were yelling. The News Movement reported that shortly after the altercation, federal agents drove away.
Steve Schleicher, the attorney for the Pretti family, said in a statement: “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street — despite posing no threat to anyone — he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24.”
A Homeland Security spokesperson said Homeland Security Investigations is reviewing the video.
People in vests that appeared to say Police Homeland Security Investigations could be seen in the video.
Rep. Ilhan Omar condemns Trump in remarks a day after town hall attack
Kyla Guilfoil and Brennan Leach
Omar said at a news conference tonight in Minneapolis that attempts to intimidate her will not deter her from public service.
“I think my presence here should tell you that the fear and intimidation doesn’t work on me,” she said a day after a man was tackled at a town hall she hosted and later arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault.
Omar said that during Trump’s second term, she has needed round-the-clock protection from U.S. Capitol Police.
“Every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket,” she said, adding that she would not be such a target “if Donald Trump wasn’t in office and if he wasn’t so obsessed with me.”
“I do believe that the facts of the situation are that I wouldn’t be where I am at today, having to pay for security, having the government to think about providing me security, if Donald Trump wasn’t in office,” Omar said.
‘Intimidation doesn’t work on me’: Omar speaks after assault during town hall
Rep. Ayanna Pressley joins Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minneapolis a day after an attack on Omar
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., spoke at a news conference in Minneapolis tonight alongside Omar less than 24 hours after an attack on Omar.
Pressley, a fellow member of the so-called squad of progressive Democrats in Congress, said she met today with immigrants who have been “traumatized” in Minnesota seeing “in real time the very authoritarian, fascist and cruel actions that they fled.”
Pressley calls for senators to vote against DHS funding
Pressley, one of the few out-of-state lawmakers to visit Minneapolis in the wake of Pretti’s death, urged senators to vote against a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, to back a resolution to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and to support a bill that would end qualified immunity for federal officers, including ICE agents.
Minnesota judge cancels Todd Lyons hearing, says ICE has violated court orders
Gary Grumbach and Raquel Coronell Uribe
U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz today formally canceled the hearing that would have caused acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in court and said the agency has repeatedly violated court orders.
Lyons was ordered to appear Friday to explain why a man arrested by federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota this month had not been given a bond hearing or released from detention within seven days, as required by Schiltz.
Schiltz attached to the order canceling the hearing a list of 96 court orders that he says ICE has violated in 74 cases since Jan. 1.
“The extent of ICE’s noncompliance is almost certainly substantially understated,” Schiltz said. “This list should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law. ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
Schiltz added that noncompliance with court orders may result in Lyons’ or other government officials’ having to personally appear before the court.
“ICE is not a law unto itself. ICE has every right to challenge the orders of this Court, but, like any litigant, ICE must follow those orders unless and until they are overturned or vacated,” Schiltz said
