Thanks to our sponsors – Become a Sponsor

NPR News

Federal officers kill a man in Minneapolis, and DHS offers few details

VPM | By Eric Westervelt, Sarah McCammon and Jennifer Ludden

Published January 24, 2026 at 10:36 PM EST

SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

For the second time this month, federal immigration agents in Minneapolis have shot and killed someone. It happened this morning outside a doughnut shop where protesters quickly gathered.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) ICE out now. ICE out now. ICE out now.

MCCAMMON: This latest killing has put an already tense city further on edge. And today, the Trump administration and local officials are trading accusations about who is to blame. NPR’s Jennifer Ludden is in Minneapolis and has been following all of this. Hi, Jennifer.

JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Hi, Sarah.

MCCAMMON: First, Jennifer, what do we know so far about what exactly happened this morning?

LUDDEN: Well, the Department of Homeland Security says there is an investigation with more information to come. But the immigration agent commanding this operation called the shooting self-defense. Gregory Bovino told reporters that agents were pursuing an undocumented immigrant wanted for violent assault, and then another person who was armed approached the officers and resisted when they tried to disarm him. Here’s Bovino.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GREGORY BOVINO: This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement. Then about 200 rioters arrived at the scene and began to obstruct and assault law enforcement.

LUDDEN: But there is a bystander video that shows multiple federal agents – it looks like at least six – wrestling someone on the ground, striking him and then you hear multiple shots fired. It sounds like at least 10 rounds in just a few seconds. And it is not clear from the video if the man killed had brandished or reached for any weapon.

Now, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says the man killed was a 37-year-old white male U.S. citizen with no criminal record and a lawful permit to carry a gun. His family has identified him to the Associated Press as Alex Pretti. They say he was an intensive care nurse at the VA who was upset at the ICE surge here, and his family says he had protested after an agent fatally shot another person, Renee Good, in her car earlier this month.

MCCAMMON: Now, the border patrol commander mentioned, quote, “rioters” at the scene. You were at the scene. What happened after the shooting?

LUDDEN: Yes, an NPR producer and I went there as word was spreading. Lots of people were streaming in to see and to protest. There were dozens of people across several blocks. I did not see rioting. Local police officers used multiple rounds of tear gas to try and disperse the crowd. They say, look, it’s a crime scene.

Now, Linda Gotlieb (ph) was among those there. She was standing a few feet from a line of local police officers in full face masks and riot gear. She’s a health care worker and is frustrated and upset about this weekslong federal surge.

LINDA GOTLIEB: They’re trying to have the narrative be that the people are the aggressors. But we have seen on video and we’ve heard people testify to the fact that, no, they are being illegally detained and assaulted and sustaining injuries. And this is absolutely counter to everything our country stands for.

LUDDEN: I’ll add that just yesterday, there were thousands of people filling downtown streets here in a very peaceful rally demanding that, you know, some 3,000 federal immigration agents leave their city.

MCCAMMON: Now, Jennifer, the Trump administration has been quick to denounce the man who was killed, calling him a, quote, “domestic terrorist,” blaming the shooting on local and state officials. What are those Minnesota officials saying?

LUDDEN: You know, we’ve heard outrage and frustration from them. Governor Tim Walz says the federal government cannot be trusted to handle the investigation. The State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says DHS is blocking its investigators from the scene. And remember, DHS said it’s not even investigating the agent who shot and killed Renee Good earlier. Here’s Governor Walz today.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TIM WALZ: We continue to hear – and we heard it from the vice president – that these folks can do whatever they want. They can have full immunity. And what I’m telling you is they will not. There will be justice to Minnesotans.

LUDDEN: Walz says the state is creating a log of evidence for possible future prosecution of immigration agents.

MCCAMMON: And how worried, quickly, are people about things escalating?

LUDDEN: You know, there’s concern. Governor Walz has activated the Minnesota National Guard to help local police with protest. Meanwhile, President Trump has accused him and the mayor of inciting insurrection. That’s meaningful because he’s repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and has put about 2,000 active duty military soldiers on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota.

MCCAMMON: NPR’s Jennifer Ludden. Thank you.

LUDDEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Tags

NPR News

Eric Westervelt

Eric Westervelt is a San Francisco-based correspondent for NPR's National Desk. He has reported on major events for the network from wars and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa to historic wildfires and terrorist attacks in the U.S.

For a decade as a foreign correspondent, Westervelt served as NPR reporter and bureau chief in Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Berlin. He's covered the Pentagon, the war in Afghanistan, and the U.S. invasion and troubled occupation of Iraq, including the insurgency, sectarian violence, and the resulting social and political tumult.

He has reported on the ground from North Africa during revolutions there, including from Tahrir Square during fall of Egypt's Mubarak, the front lines during the civil war and NATO intervention in Libya, and the popular uprising in Tunisia. He's also reported from Yemen, the Arabian Gulf states, and the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Djibouti, and the Somalia border region.

Westervelt was among the first western reporters to reach Baghdad during the 2003 U.S-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein embedded with the lead elements of the army's Third Infantry Division. He was also among the first western reporters to enter the Gaza Strip via Egypt during the 2008-2009 Israeli ground offensive in the coastal Palestinian enclave known as the Gaza War.

Westervelt has reported extensively across the U.S. on big stories and breaking news, from mass shootings to natural disasters and police use of force. He helped launch NPR's innovative, award-winning education platform NPR Ed, and serves as a guest host for NPR news shows.

Westervelt is currently helping to launch a collaborative team that covers America's criminal justice system, including issues and reform efforts surrounding prisons, policing, juvenile justice, and the courts.

He's been honored with broadcast journalism's highest honors, including the 2002 George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the aftermath; the 2003 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of Sept. 11 and the subsequent war in Afghanistan; and 2004 and 2007 DuPont-Columbia Awards for NPR's in-depth coverage of the war in Iraq and its effect on Iraqi society. Westervelt's 2009 multimedia series with the late NPR photojournalist David Gilkey won an Overseas Press Club Award. He also recently shared in an Edward R. Murrow RTNDA Award with NPR Ed for innovative education coverage.

In 2013, Westervelt returned to the U.S. from overseas as a visiting journalism fellow at Stanford University with the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship

As Jerusalem bureau chief, Westervelt covered the failed diplomatic efforts to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and the social, political, and cultural news across Israel and the occupied West Bank. He reported from the front lines of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah known as the Second Lebanon War. He was on the ground for multiple Israeli-Hamas battles in the Gaza Strip and the Fatah-Hamas civil war and battle of Gaza City that led to the current political split within the Palestinian Authority.

While based in Berlin, Westervelt covered a broad range of news across the region, including the Euro debt crisis, the rise of far right nationalists, national elections, and more.

Prior to his Middle East assignments, Westervelt covered military affairs and the Pentagon out of Washington, DC, reporting on the major defense, national security, and foreign policy issues of the day. He began his work at NPR on the network's national desk where his coverage spanned the mass shooting at Columbine High School, the presidential vote recount following the 2000 election, and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks reporting from the Ground Zero recovery in New York City, among many other stories.

On the lighter side, Westervelt also produces occasional features for NPR's Arts Desk, including for the series American Anthem, as well as Rock Hall Award profiles of blues great Freddie King and an exploration of roots rock pioneer Roy Orbison for NPR's 50 Great Voices series. His feature on the making of John Coltrane's jazz classic "A Love Supreme" was part of NPR's project on the most influential American musical works of the 20th century, which was recognized with a Peabody Award.

Before joining NPR, Westervelt worked as a reporter in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, reported for the broadcast edition of the Christian Science Monitor, Monitor Radio, and worked as a news director and reporter in New Hampshire for NHPR.

Westervelt grew up in upstate New York. He's a graduate of the Putney School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Reed College. He was a recipient in 2013 of a J.S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University.

See stories by Eric Westervelt