The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and protester, by federal agents in Minneapolis has triggered a major political crisis for the Trump administration, with President Trump quietly backing away from initial hardline defenses, growing bipartisan Republican criticism, Democratic threats to block DHS funding, and looming risk of a partial government shutdown by Friday—this the second protester killed by federal agents in the city in less than three weeks.
In a hastily arranged Sunday evening phone call with The Wall Street Journal's Josh Dawsey, Trump distanced himself from the aggressive early rhetoric, saying the administration was "reviewing everything" while avoiding direct condemnation of the agents.
The shift followed rapid cracks in GOP support: Sens. Bill Cassidy and Pete Ricketts, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, the NRA, The New York Post and Wall Street Journal editorial boards, and commentator Bill O'Reilly all called for "adjustments" to federal enforcement tactics or deeper scrutiny.
Senate Democrats escalated by vowing to withhold DHS appropriations, heightening chances of a funding lapse and partial shutdown.
The footage shows Pretti approaching agents holding a phone—not a firearm—amid protests against aggressive immigration raids. Agents pinned him and removed a gun from his waistband, but still fired at least 10 shots in under five seconds, with several rounds coming after he lay motionless on the ground.
Within hours of the Saturday, incident, top administration figures and allies advanced a starkly different version:
- Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti a “would-be assassin” who tried to “murder federal agents.”
- Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said it appeared Pretti aimed to “do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
- South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem described it as “an act of domestic terrorism.”
The Department of Homeland Security maintained agents feared for their lives, but the videos have sparked widespread accusations of misleading the public, further eroding credibility.