Less than a month into the new year, ICE continues to increase its brutality against Minneapolis and has now claimed a second life of a peaceful citizen in Minnesota. Alex Pretti was a 37 year old ICU nurse, who braved the low temperatures during a winter storm to protect and stand up for his neighbors. Pretti was last seen recording ICE officers and checking in on a fellow protestor after ICE pushed them down. Followed by agents pushing Pretti down to the ground, beating him, and pepper spraying him, before fatally shooting him. The Trump administration, again, has tried to blame the victim and argued that Pretti pulled a gun on agents and was at the demonstration to incite “maximum damage”. Pretti was legally carrying and video evidence shows that the only thing in his hand was his phone. His last words to his fellow protestor were, “Are you okay?”
Days before, on January 7, Renee Nicole Good became known as the woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis. The graphic video of the fatal shooting gained much attention on social media and stirred conversations on the abuse of power by the federal agency. In recent developments, the Department of Justice has determined that the FBI will not be investigating Jonathan Ross, the agent who killed her, but rather Good’s wife, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Governor Tim Walz. Her death is not the first by ICE as they have killed United States citizens in public and detainees in private detention centers.
According to The Trace, ICE agents have opened fire 18 times; killing 5 and injuring 9 since last January. Of those for fatal shootings:
- Eyewitnesses said that Good was trying to turn her car around when the agent reached across the car hood to shoot her. The Trump administration has labeled her as a “domestic terrorist” that made the agent fear for his life as she used her vehicle to run him over.
- An off-duty ICE agent in California shot Keith Porter after Porter fired gunshots into the air celebrating the new year. While firing into the air could have been a civil offense from local police, the agent described it as responding to an “active shooting” requiring him to use his gun.
- Last September, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was fatally shot in Chicago after an ICE agent held onto his car. A driver involved in the incident stated that he believed Villegas-Gonzalez lost control of the vehicle due to being shot. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that the agents were seriously injured and shot Villegas-Gonzalez due to fearing for their lives, although the agents described their injuries as “nothing major”.
As violence increases on the streets, inside detention centers over 20 people have died, just in 2025; the highest number of deaths in 20 years. Said to be caused by increased population, decreased oversight, and issues with hiring medical staff, detainees died from preventable illnesses and will continue to. However, the meaning of “medical distress” while in ICE custody can mean homicide as in the case of Geraldo Lunas Campos. He was detained in a Texas ICE facility and died of asphyxia with marks on his neck and chest. According to DHS, he became unresponsive after staff stopped him from committing suicide, while witnesses said he was handcuffed and held down until unconscious. His death has been ruled a homicide but as with all deaths involving ICE, public or private, agents have not been charged and the federal agency has defended their actions as legal.
The fatal shootings have intensified protests in Minnesota, prompting President Donald Trump to threaten to invoke the Insurrection Act. Allowing the president, at his judgement, to send military troops into the public streets to end protests and unrest. Frustrated that his immigration platform is getting out of control, Trump has lost the support of followers like the National Rifle Association (NRA). In response to Pretti’s death, the NRA shared that it was irresponsible for the Trump administration to say his legal concealed carry was a “danger” to officers as it is a Second Amendment right. MAGA has defended gun rights as a constitutional freedom, even in cases of mass shootings, but Pretti’s death begs the question if the party truly stands for the second amendment or if they will support limitations if president Trump imposes them. Ironically, like with all other aspects of the Trump administration, rights and protections under the Constitution, only protect those who support the president.
On the other end of the political spectrum, Democratic House Representatives are attempting to gather support to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, with over 100 signatures or half of the Democratic caucus. Following the shooting of Good, the 10 page impeachment articles state that Noem violated public trust, obstructed the role of Congress, and has personal interest in the actions of ICE. It is unsure whether the impeachment process will pass as the Republican party controls the House, but California representative Jared Huffman stated that “the circumstances are so extreme that a message needs to be sent”. Leading the public to ask, should we be turning to individual actions or keep relying on Democrats to save us?
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