Alternate title: What the killing of Alex Pretti reveals about Trump’s America
On January 24, 2026, federal immigration agents killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and ICU nurse in Minneapolis. According to official statements from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agents acted in self-defense after Pretti allegedly approached them with a handgun. Yet multiple verified videos from the scene paint a deeply conflicting picture – one that raises urgent questions not only about this killing but about the broader exercise of state power.
Footage circulating online – and confirmed by independent reporting – shows Pretti holding only his mobile phone as he took a video of federal agents engaging with protesters. He was attempting to assist others after an agent shoved and pepper-sprayed a woman nearby when the violence began. Witness videos show agents wrestling Pretti to the ground; one appears to retrieve his firearm after he had already been pinned, and then at least one agent fires multiple shots toward him.
Minnesota officials, including Governor Tim Walz and local law enforcement, have publicly disputed the federal account, which was released prematurely and used to justify the killing before full evidence was reviewed. A federal judge has even mandated that DHS preserve all evidence related to the incident amid concerns about transparency.
When a government deploys armed agents into a domestic environment, especially in a city it has been aggressively policing for weeks, the threshold for the justified use of lethal force must be exceptionally high. By all available accounts so far:
- Pretti was not brandishing a weapon before the encounter; videos show only a phone in his hand.
- He was attempting to protect or assist others, not attacking federal officers.
- He was pinned down and restrained when he was shot.
- There is no clear evidence he posed an immediate lethal threat at the moment shots were fired.
Law enforcement’s use of lethal force is justified only when there is a reasonable belief of imminent deadly threat. When evidence suggests that an individual was disarmed, physically restrained, and posing no immediate danger, the invocation of “self-defense” becomes not just legally dubious but morally indefensible.
What has made this tragedy even more disturbing is the speed and certainty with which federal officials – including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump administration spokespeople – framed Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” intent on harming law enforcement. These claims have been repeatedly contradicted by publicly shared video footage and witness statements.
This pattern of misinformation serves a strategic purpose: to shield powerful institutions and agents from accountability, and to soften public shock at what otherwise looks like an execution. It also signifies a broader erosion of public trust in official narratives – a trust that is crucial if policing is to be legitimate in a democracy.
Behind the grim statistics and political talking points, this question cuts to the core: Why was lethal force chosen so quickly and so decisively?
In any scenario involving resistance to law enforcement, de-escalation tactics – verbal warnings, containment, calling for backup – should precede deadly force unless there is a clear, immediate threat. What we appear to have here is the opposite: a rapid resort to live ammunition, fired into a restrained man who was not actively attacking anyone.
That raises two primary possibilities:
- A profound lack of proper training and restraint among federal agents, especially in crowd or protest settings.
- A broader institutional mindset that views civic protest, even peaceful or defensive actions, as justification for overwhelming force.
Either possibility is deeply alarming for anyone who believes in constitutional rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law.
A Test for Democracy
Alex Pretti’s killing has sparked protests and legal challenges, and has drawn calls from state leaders for federal agents to leave Minneapolis. But beyond immediate policy or personnel questions, this moment asks something deeper: In whose interest does the use of state violence ultimately serve?
When the government can kill a citizen in broad daylight – contradicting its own narrative with publicly available video – and then defend that killing before full independent investigation, it sets a dangerous precedent. This is not just about Pretti, or ICE, or even the current administration – it is about whether democratic norms and accountability mechanisms still function when they are most needed.
And that is a question every citizen – regardless of political affiliation – should be asking.
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If the first and subsequent media statements made by Federal authorities told the truth of what actually happened along with a genuine statement of remorse that acknowledges the uncontrolled vicious and violent action of those ICE agents involved then perhaps the national public response to the allegations would not be so loud. No wonder Minneapolis is on the brink of revolt. I imagine that many other US cities are approaching a similar state of distrust of ICE and the authorities that continue to protect these reckless individuals.
The speed with which federal officials framed this killing, contrasted with the slow and reluctant engagement with video evidence, is chilling. Michael’s article shows why restraint, verification, and independent scrutiny are not luxuries — they are democratic safeguards.
This is why independent outlets matter. Without careful reporting like this, the official version would already be cemented as truth. The facts here demand scrutiny, not spin. Thank you for writing it.
Unfortunately, the American psyche of 250 years of violence has always been shoot first, ask questions later.
The convention of federal intervention in state issues requires that the federal authorities respond only in circumstances where state resources are unable to manage a situation and then usually at the request of and with the goodwill and cooperation of the state authorities.
Trump will always seek to upend conventions and use federal resources to take punitive measures against states that he considers to be his perceived enemies (sanctuary states usually Democrat voting).
However, law and order and the administration of the criminal justice system still remain the responsibility of the state and this is what is at issue at the moment as the federal authorities try to block state authorities from investigating the deaths in Minneapolis which may result in criminal charges.
There is much for us in Australia to learn from this constitutional shambles in the US created by the incompetence and malice of one man.
Whilst we have similar constitutional arrangements, hopefully this situation could not be replicated here but we need to be constantly vigilant.
Some US citizen analysis which corresponds closely to many of Michael Taylor’s evidence-based points and argument:
https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-101-how-trump-changed-ice-and-cbp-into-a-fascist-secret-police?utm_term=69770fc735546c43d4004f80801cf49a&utm_campaign=FirstEdition&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=firstedition_email
I was just hearing how the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates a public tip-off line that actively encourages members of the public to report individuals they suspect are in the country illegally, including neighbours. This system of what we would call ‘dobbing’ unfairly impacts ‘people of colour’ in particular “latinos’ and allows for 24/7 reporting of alleged immigration-related violations – frequently the reports are maliciously motivated.
Why does this matter to us ?
The next election is shaping up to be fought on immigration and Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party strongly support the immediate identification, reporting, and deportation of illegal immigrants in Australia.
As of early 2025, One Nation has made this a central pillar of their immigration platform, aiming for a crackdown on individuals in Australia unlawfully.
Key Aspects of One Nation’s Policy include:
Mass Deportation Target: One Nation has actively campaigned to deport approximately 75,000 illegal immigrants, specifically targeting visa overstayers and those working illegally.
“Dob In” Support: The policy encourages the enforcement of immigration laws to remove those who are in the country unlawfully, arguing they take up housing and jobs intended for citizens.
Removal of Appeals: One Nation has proposed that these illegal migrants be deported with no opportunity to appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal.
One Nation, we are told, are surging in the polls!
https://www.onenation.org.au/deport-illegal-immigrants
Thanks Herbert, for this informative link.
FYI, the author of that piece, Garrett M. Graff, is editor of the Politico Magazine, former editor of Washingtonian magazine and author of, among other works…
The Threat Matrix: The FBI at War,
The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb,
World on the Brink – How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century,
Watergate: A New History,
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11,
UFO : the inside story of the US government’s search for alien life here – and out there,
Raven Rock,
The Threat Matrix: The FBI at War in the Age of Global Terror,
When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day,
D-DAY The Oral History: The Turning Point of WWII By the People Who Were There.
A very switched-on citizen, IMHO.
Thank you Canguro. Yes I’ve bumped into Politico but did not put 2&2 tog…definitely for following up when pull head out from under the other big pile.:)
Best wishes for 2026, let’s hope this nightmare will cease come the midterms.
Herbert, a bit more from Garrett Graff, in the context of your initial post. From his list of favourite books of 2025, the following, quoted:
“EVERYONE WHO IS GONE IS HERE by Jonathan Blitzer :: This half-century epic about America’s immigration crisis — deeply reported and intimate, switching back and forth between the waves of Central American immigrants who have headed north to the United States since the 1970s and 1980s and the US policymakers whose meddling in Central American politics provoked so much of this crisis to begin with — will forever change the way you read the day’s headlines. As any reader of this newsletter knows, I’ve covered the law enforcement side of this — ICE and Border Patrol — for a decade, and I was horrified by how much of the policy and human background of the immigration story I didn’t know. We so badly misunderstand in public debates the motivations (and even basic realities!) of migration and, especially, America’s own role in creating [the] circumstances of instability and political and economic disruption that drive so many people to our borders.”
Blitzer’s book can be found here.
“Drastic action”, what complete and utter bullshit! He’s panicking and doing his usual overreaction: blaming everyone else for his fuckups then then start sacking staff left right and centre to try and look totally blameless.
https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/us-politics/us-politics-live/live-coverage/bb9796b0bfd4484dfa9de145cfc75ca7
The Feds have been ordered to retain all evidence relating to this murder – how do we know that the officer who removed Pretti’s gun from the scene hasn’t taken it somewhere to fire off a few rounds to support their claims? Or that have removed the gun from the agent who killed him so he can’t be tested and held responsible? Or anything else to make a prosecutioner’s job impossible.
They cannot be trusted.