Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 24, 2026. This is the second lethal shooting this year in Minneapolis by ICE, the first being the fatal shooting of Renee Good. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees ICE’s operations, claims Alex Pretti was brandishing a firearm; this is not explicitly clear. What is known is that Alex Pretti did have a handgun and was legally carrying it under Minnesota State law. 

Mass protests have been sparked due to this event. On Jan. 30, large-scale protests and strikes occurred in response to the shootings of two Minnesotans. In cities around the country, mass demonstrations took place. In Portland, outside of the ICE detention center, people gathered to protest, and ICE shot tear gas into the crowd, injuring children and people peacefully protesting.  ICE generally has reacted violently to protests around the ICE center in Portland, tear-gassing and using pepper spray against protesters. 

The cause of the mass civil disobedience and unrest is the escalating campaign against immigrants by ICE. The increased presence of federal law enforcement and active enforcement/patrol on the streets has increased the interaction between ICE and people, leading to more clashes. Additionally, ICE has come under scrutiny for its lackluster standards and videos of the overall commander, Greg Bovino, having to remind officers that people are allowed to yell at them.

Overall in any organization, when it is massively and rapidly expanding it can decrease the quality of training and the time taken in training agents. We’ve also seen a drop in the entry requirements; ICE agents are law enforcement officers and should be held to a higher standard than just a regular job.

All of these things combined— the increase in interactions between deportation officers and communities, poor training, and the aggressive strategies ICE employed is how Americans get shot and how people here legally, not committing crimes, get deported and detained.