Minneapolis, MN – ICE has committed its second open murder of 2026 in the Twin Cities, with the fatal shooting of a legal observer on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis on the morning of January 24. The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), quickly had members on the scene to document and began planning a vigil for the fallen community member. 

The shooting was witnessed and documented by several bystanders, some of whom were then detained by ICE. In a widely circulated video from one bystander, five to six ICE agents can be seen swarming, tackling and pistol-whipping a community member. As the civilian kneels, surrounded by agents, one agent shoots him. The agents then begin to back up, and at least one of them shoots the community member several more times as he lies motionless on the ground.

Local authorities have since confirmed that the victim is dead. The Star Tribune has identified him as 37-year-old Alex Jeffery Pretti of Minneapolis.

This killing comes after the January 7 murder of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good, who an ICE agent shot multiple times after she stopped her car to document agents’ activities in her South Minneapolis neighborhood. The next week, ICE agents nonfatally shot a Minneapolis resident in North Minneapolis.

At all three incidents, and throughout the surge of ICE brutality that has terrorized Twin Cities communities, local law enforcement, including Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, have responded to ICE violence by acting as a security force for the perpetrators, pointing their boots towards Minneapolis residents while federal agents leave the scenes of their crimes without consequence. 

No arrest has been made or charges brought against Jonathan Ross, Good’s killer, nor against the agent who committed the shooting the following week, nor the agents whose tear gas nearly killed a six-month-old, nor the agents who recently kidnapped a five-year-old and a two-year-old, nor any of the agents who have racially profiled, stalked, assaulted, battered and unlawfully detained people of color and their neighbors over the past months.

Since the murder of Alex Pretti on January 24, thousands of protesters continue to mobilize near the site, chanting “ICE out” and “The people united will never be defeated!” 

MIRAC called for a rally the evening of January 24 to bring people together after the latest ICE murder. Speeches emphasized the need for immediate action to remove ICE, without the National Guard interfering with protests.

Charlie Berg, an organizer in the Climate Justice Committee and a Freedom Road Socialist Organization member, said to the crowd, “Alex Pretti was executed in broad daylight by these occupier pigs.” Addressing politicians controlled by billionaires, he added “The only way this ends is with ICE to getting the fuck out of our city. You've been warned.” 

“We are on a precipice,” says MIRAC member Owen Lubozynski. “The agents of an authoritarian regime are terrorizing and disappearing our neighbors, brutalizing observers, injuring journalists and killing with impunity. Any leader who is against this must do everything in their power to impede our country’s plunge into dictatorship while they still can.”

City and state officials responded to the righteous anger of community members by calling out the National Guard. But Minnesotans have not been deterred or scared away from gathering at the site of Pretti’s murder. 

“It is us, even when we are scared, when our hearts are heavy, full of emotion, that we work to fight for what is right. While they teargas us and shoot at us, it is our community members that come to our aid. Do not forget that. Our community has shown resilience, has shown love and generosity in the face of danger. It is us that keeps us safe!” said Esper Garcia from MIRAC.

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