‘You know what you saw’: Walz tells America the country is at ‘an inflection point’
Closing the press conference, Tim Walz pays tribute to Alex Pretti as a son, ICU nurse and someone “beloved by his community” and calls on the Trump administration to stop “gaslighting the country” and “smearing” Pretti’s name, adding that his family “has been through enough”.
He tells Americans:
You know what you saw, and then you heard the most powerful people in the world … narrate to you what you were looking at, that this was a domestic terrorist … sullying his name within minutes of this event happening.
Federal agents then closed the crime scene, “sweeping away the evidence”, Walz adds. Someone needs to be held accountable for the shooting, he says, as he renews calls for Trump to pull ICE agents out of Minneapolis.
He says that “sitting behind a keyboard at 2am and besmirching a VA nurse and a son and a co-worker and a friend is despicable beyond all description.”
Walz asks people to put aside political bias out of “basic human decency”.
This is an inflection point, America. If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw, I don’t know what else to tell you.
Key events
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‘Enough is enough’: Vermont’s Republican governor calls for Trump to de-escalate after fatal Minnesota shootings
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Minneapolis residents, angry and anxious, resolve to fight on as they mourn Alex Pretti
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‘A profound disregard for human life’: NY governor Hochul calls on Noem and Bovino to resign or be fired
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State records contradict Bovino’s claims about target of Saturday’s operation
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Federal agents involved in Pretti shooting scene reassigned outside of Minneapolis ‘for their safety’, Bovino says
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‘You know what you saw’: Walz tells America the country is at ‘an inflection point’
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Federal officials ‘refused access’ for state investigators to Pretti shooting scene, Minnesota AG says
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‘What side do you want to be on?’ Walz asks Americans in wake of another fatal shooting
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Walz holds press conference on fatal shooting of Alex Pretti
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Summary so far
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‘Outraged’ nurses union calls for ICE to be abolished
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‘This has to stop’: Pretti shooting should be a ‘wake-up call to every American’ that core values are under assault, say Obamas
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NRA and pro-gun groups call for ‘full investigation’ into killing of Alex Pretti
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‘The videos speak for themselves,’ says Minneapolis police chief
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FBI analyzing gun Alex Pretti was allegedly carrying, says Patel
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Bondi demands access to Minnesota voter rolls and welfare data in return for pulling ICE out of the state
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Walz urges Trump to pull agents out of Minneapolis ‘before they kill another American in the street’
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Bovino continues to defend fatal shooting of Alex Pretti without evidence
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‘Your eyes don’t lie’: Amy Klobuchar says she will vote against DHS funding as government heads towards a potential partial shutdown
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GoFundMe page for Pretti nears $400,000
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Minnesota workers pressure employers to take action against ICE operations
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Colleagues pay tribute to Alex Pretti, described as ‘the gentlest soul you ever met’
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Senate Democrats will not vote for spending package that includes money for the DHS, Schumer says
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California governor calls for homeland security secretary to resign
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Senior Republican senator calls for ‘a full joint federal and state investigation’
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Opening summary: Alex Pretti’s parents condemn ‘sickening lies’ of Trump administration
And further to that, James Comer, a GOP representative of Kentucky and chairman of the House oversight committee, said on Fox News earlier today that Donald Trump should consider removing ICE agents from Minneapolis and sending them to another state.
If “there’s a chance of losing more innocent lives or whatever,” Comer said, “then maybe go to another city and let the people of Minneapolis decide: Do we want to continue to have all of these illegals?”
Further to my earlier posts about Republican elected officials breaking with the Trump administration to condemn and/or demand an investigation into the fatal shootings of American citizens in Minnesota by federal agents, representative Michael McCaul, of Texas, has called for a “thorough” investigation.
He wrote on X:
I am troubled by the events that have unfolded in Minneapolis. As an attorney and former federal prosecutor, I believe a thorough investigation is necessary—both to get to the bottom of these incidents and to maintain Americans’ confidence in our justice system.
I look forward to hearing from DHS officials about what happened here and how we can prevent further escalation in the future.
He called on “both sides” to “turn down the temperature right now”.
The National Basketball Players Association has put out a statement on the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and Renee Good saying that NBA players “can no longer remain silent”.
“Now more than ever, we must defend the right to freedom of speech and stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota protesting and risking their lives to demand justice,” the statement reads. “We refuse to let the flames of division threaten the civil liberties that are meant to protect us all.”
Earlier, we reported that sports stars including two-time NBA All-star Tyrese Haliburton condemned the killing of Pretti yesterday. “Alex Pretti was murdered,” the Indiana Pacers guard wrote. Two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart held a sign reading “ABOLISH ICE” before her team’s game in Unrivaled, the league she co-founded. Another WNBA star, Angel Reese, posted “Praying for our country” on X.
‘Enough is enough’: Vermont’s Republican governor calls for Trump to de-escalate after fatal Minnesota shootings
Vermont’s governor Phil Scott earlier issued a statement calling for Donald Trump to de-escalate federal actions in Minnesota, the latest Republican to do so, saying: “Enough is enough.”
Enough … it’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their God-given and constitutional rights to protest their government.
At best, these federal immigration operations are a complete failure of coordination of acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices, training, and leadership.
At worst, it’s a deliberate federal intimidation and incitement of American citizens that’s resulting in the murder of Americans. Again, enough is enough.
The President should pause these operations, de-escalate the situation, and reset the federal government’s focus on truly criminal illegal immigrants. In the absence of Presidential action, Congress and the Courts must step up to restore constitutionality.
With risk of a partial government shutdown growing, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has said he is seeking to advance the five other funding bills and rewrite the Department of Homeland Security bill, according to Punchbowl News, in the wake of “the blatant abuses of Americans by ICE in Minnesota”.
In a statement, via Punchbowl News, Schumer said:
Senate Democrats will not allow the current DHS funding bill to move forward.
Senate Republicans have seen the same horrific footage that all Americans have watched of the blatant abuses of Americans by ICE in Minnesota.
The appalling murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis must lead Republicans to join the Democrats in overhauling ICE and CBP to protect the public. People should be safe from abuse by their own government.
Senate Republicans must work with Democrats to advance the other five funding bills while we work to rewrite the DHS bill. This is the best course of action, and the American people are on our side.
Last night, Schumer said his party would block the funding package altogether next week if it included money for the DHS in the wake of another fatal shooting of a US citizen in Minnesota by a federal agent.
The announcement, which dramatically escalated the potential for another partial government shutdown, came as anger towards homeland security, which oversees ICE, intensifies after a group of federal agents violently restrained and then fatally shot 37-year-old ICU nurse Pretti in Minneapolis, weeks after the fatal shooting of Good, also 37, by an ICE agent.
Minneapolis residents, angry and anxious, resolve to fight on as they mourn Alex Pretti
Rachel Leingang
in Minneapolis
At the scene on Sunday, a tribute continued to grow – flowers, candles and signs stuck into the snowbank and on the asphalt – for Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse who was observing ICE when he was killed. His death came less than three weeks after Renee Good, also 37, was killed by a federal agent in the city. In Minneapolis the scene of a growing vigil is now all too common.
Spray paint saying “ICE OUT” and “Fuck ICE” could be found throughout the area, on freeway overpasses and the sides of buildings. “RIP Alex,” signs at the shooting site said. People huddled in thick winter coats, one with a blanket wrapped around them, to pay their respects and keep watch on the memorial.
Glam Doll Donuts, across the street from the shooting, posted a photo out its front windows, lined with signs saying ICE wasn’t welcome but everyone else was, on social media on Sunday morning. Bystander video from that location spread widely the day before. The owners wrote that this view out their windows, which they’ve had for almost 13 years, would “never be the same”. They said the shop would be open for a few hours on Sunday, with “minimal donuts”, as a place for anyone needing some warmth and community.
“The tragedies we continue to experience together are horrifying but our people are beyond beautiful and we don’t take your shit,” they wrote.
The unrelenting federal campaign on the city has residents angry and anxious, resolved to fight back but aware that their resistance continues to grow more dangerous after the deaths of two observers. Beyond those who have worked in the streets to follow, document and alert residents to agents, an unofficial network of neighbors many thousands deep continues to grow to take kids to school, deliver groceries and supplies to people who can’t leave home and organize rides for those not driving for fear of agents pulling them over.
RT Rybak, the former mayor of Minneapolis, wrote that this global spotlight for the city can show people how to unite in a “common purpose” of protecting each other. “A community uniting around the idea that everyone belongs does not mourn alone,” he wrote.
Read Rachel’s full report here:
‘A profound disregard for human life’: NY governor Hochul calls on Noem and Bovino to resign or be fired
New York governor Kathy Hochul has lambasted the Trump administration for telling “a shameless, bold-faced lie” to justify the killing of Alex Pretti in Minnesota and called for the resignation of Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino.
The homeland security secretary has “shown a profound disregard for human life” and “forfeited her right to lead”, Hochul said, calling for Noem’s resignation or for Donald Trump “to do the right thing and just fire her”.
“And Gregory Bovino, who has helped lead and defend and escalate these operations, should also be fired,” she said.
“It’s a shame that I have to say this in America, but no one is above the law,” she added. “And make no mistake, when these people who have abused the power entrusted to them by their offices are finally out of power, states, including New York, will hold them accountable.”
Striking a decidedly different tone, Donald Trump earlier posted on his Truth Social plaftorm:
Minnesota is a Criminal COVER UP of the massive Financial Fraud that has gone on!
The US president posted similarly yesterday about the state and has yet to offer any condolences to Alex Pretti’s family, referring to the killed nurse only once – simply as a “gunman” – in a lengthy post yesterday.
Hundreds brave subzero temperatures to gather at a makeshift memorial at the site where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis yesterday.
Written in the snow are the words: “Long live Alex Pretti”. A sign on the memorial reads: “Stop fucking killing us.”
State records contradict Bovino’s claims about target of Saturday’s operation
Joseph Gedeon
Bovino said that the operation in Minneapolis had originally been targeting Jose Huerta-Chuma, who he described as a dangerous undocumented immigrant who needed to be taken off the streets.
He said Huerta-Chuma was in the process of being taken into custody when “agitators, rioters and anarchists” prevented the arrest.
But the Minnesota Department of Corrections flatly contradicted Bovino’s characterization of Huerta-Chuma as having a “significant criminal history”.
According to DOC records and Minnesota court data, the individual has never been in Minnesota DOC custody and has no felony commitments.
DOC records also revealed an inconvenient detail: someone with that name was held in federal immigration custody in a local Minnesota jail in 2018, during Trump’s first administration, and was released by federal authorities under Trump’s watch.
Federal agents involved in Pretti shooting scene reassigned outside of Minneapolis ‘for their safety’, Bovino says
Bovino added that they still don’t know how many shots were fired and “all agents that were involved in that scene are working, not in Minneapolis, but in other locations, that’s for their safety.”
Joseph Gedeon
When asked about the videos that show Alex Pretti was unarmed before being shot and killed, Bovino said: “Many videos out there, many different accounts that you may see that I may see.”
Folks, this why we have something called an investigation, to take what you’re talking about, to take those videos, to take witness statements, to take, officer statements, all those minute details that will paint a true picture, not a freeze frame concept, and paint a larger picture of what really happened. That is why we investigate, so we can get to the truth, so there’s not speculation.
Joseph Gedeon
Meanwhile, at the Department of Homeland Security press conference in Minneapolis, the commander of the US border patrol Greg Bovino lectured the hall and listeners virtually about “choices” and how “many actions that take place are due to our choices.”
“And then when you choose,” he said, “When someone chooses to listen to a politician, a so-called journalist, a community leader that spouted that type of vilification towards law enforcement or anything else we choose to listen to that that is a choice, and there are consequences and actions there also. I think we saw that yesterday.”
‘You know what you saw’: Walz tells America the country is at ‘an inflection point’
Closing the press conference, Tim Walz pays tribute to Alex Pretti as a son, ICU nurse and someone “beloved by his community” and calls on the Trump administration to stop “gaslighting the country” and “smearing” Pretti’s name, adding that his family “has been through enough”.
He tells Americans:
You know what you saw, and then you heard the most powerful people in the world … narrate to you what you were looking at, that this was a domestic terrorist … sullying his name within minutes of this event happening.
Federal agents then closed the crime scene, “sweeping away the evidence”, Walz adds. Someone needs to be held accountable for the shooting, he says, as he renews calls for Trump to pull ICE agents out of Minneapolis.
He says that “sitting behind a keyboard at 2am and besmirching a VA nurse and a son and a co-worker and a friend is despicable beyond all description.”
Walz asks people to put aside political bias out of “basic human decency”.
This is an inflection point, America. If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw, I don’t know what else to tell you.
Ellison also notes that his office and county officials secured a temporary restraining order from a federal judge last night barring federal officials from destroying evidence from Alex Pretti’s shooting, “including any evidence that federal agents took from the scene, preventing state authorities from inspecting it”.
“We’ve never had to do anything like this before,” he says. “The fact that anyone would ever think that an agent of the federal government might even think about doing such a thing was completely unforeseeable only a few weeks ago.”
It is imperative that we preserve as much evidence as possible so that state investigators are able to access the evidence to ensure a fair and thorough investigation.
Ellison highlights similarities with the aftermath of the shooting of Renee Good where state investigators were also denied access to the scene and “to this moment are still being denied access to the investigative file”.
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