Political leaders from Arizona have sharply divided responses following the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse from Minneapolis, during an immigration enforcement operation over the weekend.
Federal officials stated that Alex Pretti approached officers with a gun and violently resisted arrest, while video footage and witness accounts describe a different sequence of events. The video shows officers tackling Pretti first, with an agent discovering and removing his concealed weapon only after he was already restrained on the ground.
Witnesses had reported seeing Pretti filming the scene with his camera and yelling at agents, but none saw him reach for any weapon before officers shot him.
President Donald Trump released a lengthy statement defending his administration's deportation efforts and demanding cooperation from Democratic officials.
He claimed his administration won a "historic landslide" victory partly by promising to secure the border and conduct mass deportations. President Trump highlighted successful operations in Republican-led states, stating that ICE arrested over 150,000 individuals in five states without incidents.
He called on Democratic governors and mayors to hand over undocumented immigrants in custody, allow local police to assist federal agents, and work together on deportations. Trump also urged Congress to eliminate sanctuary city policies, arguing that American cities should protect citizens, not criminals who entered illegally.
Arizona's Parties Don't Agree
Arizona Republicans rallied behind the president's position.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) demanded, “The madness must end,” and called on people to follow federal law and stop interfering with enforcement officers.
Along with Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), who went further, accusing Democrats of "weaponizing their militant base" to block Trump's immigration policies. He claimed Democrats are willing to let "cities burn and have innocent people die" as part of what he called a "Marxist takeover of America."
Moreover, Democratic representatives from Arizona took the opposite stance.
Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) labeled the shooting as "murder," criticizing what he described as improper escalation tactics. He stated that shooting an unarmed person and continuing to fire into their body isn't proper protocol, demanding “the need to fire and prosecute these a**holes, and then re-build from the ground up.”
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) attended a protest in Phoenix, proud of the protesters who were standing up to "fascism" and an "authoritarian Trump regime." She praised community members who demanded that ICE leave Minnesota and other local areas.
Minnesota's Growing Protests
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) issued his own statement, calling federal operations in his state "a campaign of organized brutality." He said he watched the video of the incident and found it "sickening," promising that Minnesota's justice system would lead the investigation rather than federal authorities.
Gov. Walz urged the president to remove 3,000 federal agents from Minnesota while praising residents for peaceful protests.
As of Saturday, a federal judge granted Minnesota's request for a temporary restraining order preventing the Department of Homeland Security from destroying evidence related to the shooting, as protests continue growing across multiple states, standing in solidarity.
