2 federal officers fired shots during encounter that killed Alex Pretti,
DHS tells Congress
[January 28, 2026]
By SEUNG MIN KIM, MIKE CATALINI and STEVE KARNOWSKI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two federal officers fired shots during the encounter
that killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti over the weekend in Minneapolis, a
Customs and Border Protection official told Congress in a notice sent
Tuesday, while Ecuador’s minister of foreign affairs filed an objection
saying immigration agents tried to enter the country's consulate in the
city without permission.
Officers tried to take Pretti into custody and he resisted, leading to a
struggle, according to a notification to Congress obtained by The
Associated Press. During the struggle, a Border Patrol agent yelled,
“He’s got a gun!” multiple times, the official said.
A Border Patrol officer and a CBP officer each fired Glock pistols, the
notice said.
Investigators from CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility conducted
the analysis based on a review of body-worn camera footage and agency
documentation, the notice said. The law requires the agency to inform
relevant congressional committees about deaths in CBP custody within 72
hours.
Separately, a man was arrested after he sprayed an unknown liquid at
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar while she was speaking at a town hall meeting in
Minneapolis. The Democrat had just called for the abolishment of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for Homeland Security Secretary
Kristi Noem to resign when she was sprayed.
Trump says 'we're going to de-escalate a little bit'
The developments came a day after President Donald Trump ordered border
czar Tom Homan to take over his administration’s immigration crackdown
in Minnesota in the wake of Pretti's death, which was the second fatal
shooting this month of a person at the hands of immigration law
enforcement.
By sending Homan to Minnesota, “we’re going to de-escalate a little
bit,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ “Will Cain Show.”
That’s significant since White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt,
when questioned repeatedly Monday about Homan’s being dispatched to
Minnesota, refused to say that doing so was an effort to calm the
situation.
The president added of Homan, “Tom, as tough as he is, gets along” with
governors and mayors, even in Democratic areas.
As he left the White House on Tuesday, the president was asked whether
Pretti’s killing was justified. He responded by saying that a “big
investigation” was underway. In the hours after Pretti’s death, some
administration officials sought to blame the shooting on the 37-year-old
intensive care nurse.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff who had initially called
Pretti “an assassin,” issued a statement suggesting CBP officers in
Minneapolis “may not have been following” protocol. He said the Homeland
Security Department’s initial statements about what transpired on
Saturday was “based on reports from CBP on the ground.”
Ecuador files a protest with the US Embassy
A video of the Ecuadorian consulate entry attempt posted on social media
shows a staffer running to the door to turn the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents away, telling them, “This is the Ecuadorian
consulate. You’re not allowed to enter.” One ICE officer can be heard
responding by threatening to “grab” the staffer if he touched the agent
before agreeing to leave.
International law generally prohibits law enforcement authorities from
entering foreign consulates or embassies without permission, though
sometimes permission may be assumed granted for life-threatening
emergencies, like fires.
“Consulate officials immediately prevented the ICE officer from entering
the consular building, thus ensuring the protection of the Ecuadorians
who were present at the time and activating the emergency protocols
issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility,” the
ministry wrote on X.
A “note of protest” was filed with the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador so that
similar attempts aren’t made at other consulates, the ministry said. The
State Department, Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
[to top of second column]
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A framed photograph of Alex Pretti, along with candles and an
American flag, sits at a memorial outside the Minneapolis VA
hospital on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota
Public Radio via AP)
Trump says of sending Bovino to Minneapolis: ‘Maybe it wasn’t
good here’
Immigration enforcement activity witnessed by journalists in
Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs on Tuesday appeared comparable
with recent weeks. As before, most didn’t result in major
confrontations with agents. Activists say they continue to monitor
enforcement operations through social media and chats on messaging
apps.
The White House had tried to blame Democratic leaders for the
protests of immigration raids. But after Pretti’s killing and videos
suggesting he was not an active threat, the administration tapped
Homan to take charge of the Minnesota operation from Border Patrol
commander Gregory Bovino.
Trump said Bovino, the go-to architect for the president’s
large-scale city-by-city immigration crackdowns, was “very good” but
added “he’s a pretty out-there kind of a guy” and “maybe it wasn’t
good here.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, along with
the city's police chief, met with Homan on Tuesday and agreed to
keep talking. Homan posted on social media that the discussions
“were a productive starting point.”
Courts weigh in on detained immigrants
In Texas, a federal judge issued a temporary order prohibiting the
removal of a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father who were
detained last week in Minnesota in an incident that further inflamed
divisions on immigration. U.S. Judge Fred Biery ruled Monday that
any removal or transfer of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his
father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, is on hold while a court case
proceeds.
Also in Texas, federal immigration authorities released an
Ecuadorian man whose detention led the chief federal judge in
Minnesota to order the head of ICE to appear in his courtroom, the
man's attorney said.
Attorney Graham Ojala-Barbour said the man was released in Texas.
The lawyer said in an email to The Associated Press that he was
notified in an email from the U.S. attorneys office in Minneapolis
that his client had been freed.
In an order dated Monday, Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz expressed
frustration with the Trump administration’s handling of immigration
cases. He took the extraordinary step of ordering Todd Lyons, the
acting director of ICE, to personally appear in his courtroom
Friday.
Schiltz had said in his order that he would cancel Lyons’ appearance
if the man was released from custody.
“This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though
respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to
detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the
hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to
result,” he wrote.
Schiltz's order followed a federal court hearing Monday on a request
by the state and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul for a judge
to halt the immigration enforcement surge. The judge in that case
said she would prioritize the ruling but did not give a timeline for
a decision.
Schiltz wrote that he recognizes ordering the head of a federal
agency to appear personally is extraordinary. “But the extent of
ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and
lesser measures have been tried and failed,” he said.
The Associated Press left messages Tuesday with ICE and a DHS
spokesperson seeking a response.
___
Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey and Karnowski from
Minneapolis. Associated Press writers Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis,
Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, and Michelle Price in Washington
contributed to this report.
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