Editor’s Note: Originally, the final paragraph had listed 4 victims of state violence in Minneapolis since the beginning of 2026. This is incorrect since there has actually been 5, including Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis who was shot in the leg by an ICE agent on January 14th. At the time of writing, Walz has just activated the MN state national guard. This article may be updated as information continues to be released.
Today, January 24, 2026, ICE agents executed another Minneapolis resident. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old man and American citizen, died from his wounds on-scene less than twenty minutes after being shot by multiple agents. In the footage, four agents are seen piled atop of him, holding him down and beating him, before one agent shoots him once, followed by nine more shots from other agents. Federal agents deployed chemical weapons in attempts to clear the scene, near 28th Street West and Nicollet Avenue.
A statement has been released by the Department of Homeland Security on X. In the statement, they say Alex Pretti had approached them while conducting, “a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault”. The offending ICE officer feared “for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers” before firing “defensive shots.” The Minneapolis Police Chief has stated that the victim, Alex Pretti, was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. In videos showing the execution, Pretti was already on the ground and when shot by the agents, who claim they had tried to disarm him before taking his life.
Since the shooting occurred around 10 a.m., dozens of protesters and community members have gathered in the area to confront the federal agents responsible for the shooting. Live-streamed footage from on-the-ground press shows multiple individuals being similarly tackled before being detained, and chemical weapons and riot ammunition being deployed on the crowd. Despite the brutality that occurred mere hours before, the Minneapolis residents who responded to the scene of the shooting to demand justice, and an end to ICE’s occupation of Minneapolis, have held their ground against the agents. In scenes which echo the George Floyd Rebellion nearly six years prior, the massive crowd of residents is seen facing down the line of agents, chanting as they advance into the thick cloud of tear gas.
ICE has shot five civilians in the three weeks of 2026: Renee Good, Luis David Nico Moncada, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. These acts of extreme violence are a part of the larger trend of facistization and militarization sweeping American cities, and the continued normalization of attacks on the masses perpetrated by the state. The state-sanctioned violence unleashed on the people of Minneapolis has answered with unwavering bravery and determination, as residents rush out of their homes to stand alongside one another and demand safety and self-determination in their neighborhoods. We stand with the people of Minneapolis, and call upon all mass activists and progressive-minded people, to come together to resist ICE, and any state-violence wherever it rears its ugly head.
By The National Executive Committee of the People’s Defense Committee
