On January 24, it became known that ICE agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis. Alex Jeffrey Pratty, a 37-year-old medical worker, was killed. He was a US citizen with no criminal record. The murder occurred less than three weeks after ICE agents in Minneapolis shot and killed a 37-year-old local resident, a US citizen, Renee Goode.
The US Department of Homeland Security immediately stated that the deceased allegedly approached the ICE officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol. They tried to disarm him, but he put up “fierce resistance” and was killed. However, according to a witness to the murder, who saw everything that happened from beginning to end, Alex was holding a mobile phone, not a gun.
According to eyewitness, Alex Pretty did not resist or threaten the agents. At one point, he tried to help a woman who was pushed to the ground by ICE agents. According to a witness, the man stood with a phone in his hands and raised his arms above his head, after which ICE agents sprayed pepper gas at him and knocked him to the ground.
The witness did not see Pretty touching the agents or holding a weapon. He also claims that many shots were fired by the agents after that. These statements have been officially filed in the US federal Court in Minnesota as part of a case challenging the authorities’ version.
The Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, said that the accusations against Alex Jeffrey Pratty of an alleged armed attack on ICE agents were false and were made before the investigation was completed. The US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristy Noam, also admitted that the victim legally owned a weapon and had a permit to carry it. The Ministry did not specify whether the victim had taken out a weapon or not.
On January 7, 2026, a woman named Renee Goode, who was also a U.S. citizen, was killed in Minneapolis during an operation by U.S. immigration officers. The woman has three children.
Federal authorities and ICE officials said the shooting occurred during an operation when, according to their version, a woman tried to run over a security officer with a car. At the same time, the mayor of Minneapolis criticized the actions of the immigration service and demanded that such operations in the city be stopped.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a U.S. law enforcement agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Its task is to control illegal migration not at the border, but inside the country. The service’s staff, among other things, conduct raids, arrest and deport people who are in the United States without permission from the authorities.
Human rights activists see the ICE raids as human rights violations, violence, and discrimination against migrants.
Protests have been going on in Minnesota for almost a month now. Back on January 23, before the murder of Alex Jeffrey Pratty, about 50,000 people took to the streets of the city, according to protest organizers, demanding the abolition of ICE. After federal agents killed Pratty, the protests in the city intensified and continue.
