Protests continued in Minneapolis and other US cities on Sunday over the fatal shooting by immigration agents of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said America was at an inflection point and repeated calls for US President Donald Trump to remove federal immigration agents from the city.
The US president meanwhile called for the governor to turn over all Criminal Illegal Aliens incarcerated in state prisons for deportation.
Meanwhile Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told the BBC that state officers were blocked from accessing the scene of the shooting by federal agents, despite securing a search warrant.
He added that all levels of law enforcement in Minnesota have been working with federal law enforcement for several years, and that the unfolding situation in Minnesota was hampering agencies' ability to continue such investigations.
US Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino on Saturday accused O'Hara and Frey of trying to derail federal law enforcement operations.
Trump signaled in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Sunday that he might be willing to eventually withdraw ICE agents from the Minneapolis area, but did not provide a time frame.
He told the outlet: At some point we will leave. We've done, they've done a phenomenal job.\u00a0
Lawmakers continue to be divided over the shooting of Pretti, as well as his second Amendment right to bear arms. US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti was shot because he was brandishing a gun. Local authorities say the gun was legally registered, he was not brandishing it, and he was shot after the gun was removed.
The Trump administration has described Pretti as a domestic terrorist. Pretti's family issued a statement in response to the comment saying the sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.
His family said he had no interaction with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets, and according to AP, court records show he had no criminal record.
On Sunday evening Trump demanded in a post on Truth Social that Walz and Frey, as well as EVERY Democrat Governor and Mayor in the United States must formally cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation's Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence.
Protests spread beyond Minneapolis, with demonstrators holding signs in places like Chicago and New York, demanding justice for Alex and advocating for the abolition of ICE.
On social media, Trump criticized Democrat officials for not supporting federal actions, stirring further controversy in the ongoing debate on immigration enforcement and federal-state relations.
This incident marks a significant moment of tension between federal agents and local authorities, highlighting the complexities surrounding immigration policies in the United States today.
}
