The White House has issued a statement as a wild twist has emerged in the ICE shooting of Alex Pretti.
The 37-year-old ICU nurse was shot and killed by a border patrol officer in Minneapolis, marking the city’s second fatal shooting by a federal office this month.
Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7.
Pretti had participated in protests following the killing of Good, with his father stating that his son ‘cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the US with ICE.’
The fatal shooting of Pretti has sparked another wave of outrage from local officials and residents, with starkly different narratives at play.
Renee Good shooting
The Minneapolis resident was shot and killed during a federal immigration enforcement operation, shortly after dropping her six-year-old child off at school.
Verified bystander videos show an agent reaching for her vehicle’s door and ordering her out before another agent moved in front of the car; as the SUV began to turn and pull away, that agent drew his firearm and fired three times, killing Good as the vehicle passed.
Agent Ross has been defended by federal officials as acting in self-defense, a claim disputed by witnesses, community advocates and local leaders.
The shooting has ignited intense debate nationwide, with political figures offering sharply divergent descriptions of what took place.
President Trump dismissed Good and her wife, Becca, as professional agitators, while Vice President JD Vance defended the shooting, saying the agent believed his life was at risk and acted accordingly.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that Good had been following and disrupting ICE agents throughout the day and that she tried to use her vehicle against them, describing those actions as tantamount to domestic terrorism.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey strongly rejected that characterization, calling the label of domestic terrorism offensive and disputing the federal account of what happened.
Although federal authorities, including the FBI, are still reviewing the circumstances of Good’s death, current reporting indicates that there are no active plans by federal prosecutors to charge ICE agent Ross with a crime.
The fatal shooting of Pretti has since ignited fresh outrage, and the White House has weighed in with a statement as the case continues to unfold.
Shocking twist
Following Pretti’s death, the Trump administration have made several claims that the nurse was in fact responsible for what happened to him – a narrative which has sparked outrage and disruption across many US states.
The administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota is now entering its ninth week, with its original goal to arrest and detain criminals.
But there is growing concern that, after two fatal shootings of US citizens, ordinary members of the community are now being targeted.
Without any evidence, the Trump administration branded Pretti as a ‘domestic terrorist,’ that ‘tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.’
The President himself added: “LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB.”
Officials have suggested that Pretti approached ICE agents with a gun, but what’s since been made clear, is that he was legally carrying as per the Second Amendment.
Bill Essayli, the first assistant US attorney for California, said: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”
Witnesses break their silence
In yet another twist in the tragic case, two witnesses to the killing have sworn in testimony that the 37-year-old nurse was not brandishing a weapon when he approached ICE agents on January 24 – which contradicts the claims made by Trump and his team.
Pretti’s family have broken their silence following the death of their son, and have called out the ‘sickening lies’ in the wake of his death.
In a statement, they said: “We do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.
“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked… he has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down.”
But this isn’t the only wild development in the case.
Officials state that their shooting of Pretti was an act of self-defense.
Charlie Kirk‘s comments about the Second Amendment have resurfaced in light of Pretti’s brutal death, in which he said: “The second amendment is not for hunting, it is not for self protection.
“It is there to ensure that free people can defend themselves if god forbid government became tyrannical and turned against its citizens.”
People have branded the eerie post as ‘fascinating’ after the prolonged presence of ICE in Minnesota.
And while MAGA politicians continue to blame Pretti after the alleged ‘threat’ he imposed, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has issued a rare statement against the administration.
Another wild twist emerges
The NRA heavily supports the Second Amendment in America and campaigns for gun rights across every state.
Yet in an unexpected development, it has stated that the rhetoric being spewed by Trump and his supporters is ‘dangerous and wrong,’ given that Americans are legally allowed to keep and bear arms.
Even those who would usually disagree with the NRA are agreeing with its most recent claims.
Gavin Newsom, governor of California, added: “Wow. Even the NRA thinks Trump’s DOJ stooge in California has gone too far for claiming federal agents were ‘legally justified’ to kill Alex Pretti.”
