CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago and Illinois leaders are speaking out and protesters are gathering after officials said a man was shot and killed Saturday in a confrontation with federal agents in Minneapolis.
The Department of Homeland Security alleged the man “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.”
The 37-year-old American citizen killed by a Border Patrol agent was identified as Alex Pretti, according to the AFGE Professional Local 3669, which represents professional employees affiliated with the Minneapolis VA Health Care System.
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“[A] member of our union lost their life today, and that alone is devastating. Our hearts are heavy, and we are deeply stricken by this tragedy that has befallen one of our own,” the union said.
The American Nurses Association also released a statement saying it is “deeply disturbed” by the Pretti’s death.
The ANA is calling for a “a full, unencumbered investigation” and urged findings to be shared with Pretti’s family and the public.
The Associated Press reported that Pretti worked as an ICU nurse and was born in Illinois.
This undated photo provided by Michael Pretti shows Alex J. Pretti, the man who was shot by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.
(Michael Pretti via AP)
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz lashed out against President Donald Trump, Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino and other administration officials over the shooting and reiterated his call for federal agents to leave the state.
The fatal shooting is also drawing reaction from officials in the Chicago area. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is calling to abolish ICE, while Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is calling for a stop of funding for the agency.
Governor Pritzker posted the following statement to social media:
“Masked federal agents in Minnesota just shot and killed another person. We must put a stop to Trump’s ICE. Now. Stop the funding, stop the occupations, stop the killings. I am asking my fellow Republican and Democratic Governors across the nation to have a unified response. We must all stand against the lawlessness being inflicted in our states.”
Mayor Johnson posted the following statement to social media:
“One day after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to remind us of our shared humanity, ICE murdered another innocent person in Minneapolis. We pray for the victim and their loved ones. When they come for one of us, they come for all of us. ICE must be abolished.
“We cannot allow Trump’s militarized and masked police to continue killing innocent people with impunity. Chicago stands in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis who are facing this tyranny. We need ICE and CBP to get out of our cities right now.”
Protesters are planning to gather at 3 p.m. in Logan Square on Chicago’s Northwest Side, organizers said, despite frigid temperatures.
Cellphone video captured the apparent tussle between federal agents and a man on the ground in Minneapolis Saturday morning, before gunfire could be heard.
President Trump, posting on social media a picture of what he says was the man’s loaded gun, saying “LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!”
Border Patrol Commander Bovino spoke Saturday about what led up to the shooting while agents were trying to arrest an undocumented man.
“During this operation, an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun,” Bovino said. “The agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted.”
Police said the man shot and killed was a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and Minneapolis resident, and a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.
This is now the third shooting in Minnesota during the ongoing immigration operation in the state. Demonstrations have already been going on after the fatal shooting of Renee Good earlier this month.
“Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word on this. It must have the last word,” Walz said. “The federal government can not be trusted to lead this investigation.”
Illinois Representative Brad Schneider is calling for a full investigation into the shooting and the firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“Trust is lost, and it’s why Trump’s ICE has to go,” Pritzker said. “We have to figure out what we’re going to do to replace it with something responsible and with responsible people.”
ABC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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