Judge to hear arguments on Minnesota immigration crackdown as video footage contradicts Trump team’s version of ICU nurse Alex Pretti’s shooting
Administration officials claim the man assaulted Border Patrol agentsSecond fatal shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis this month‘This has to stop’ – Barack and Michelle Obama
The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs (Ice) officer.The shooting of Alex Pretti on Saturday by a Border Patrol officer has only added urgency to the case.Since the original filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their original request.Thousands of people took to the streets of Minneapolis on Sunday (AP)They are trying to restore the state of affairs that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge on December 1.The hearing is set for Monday morning in a federal court in Minneapolis. Democratic Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison said he plans to personally attend the hearing.The state and cities are asking US district judge Kathleen Menendez to order federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the numbers of officers and agents in Minnesota to levels before the surge, while allowing them to continue to enforce immigration laws within a long list of proposed limits.US justice department attorneys have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous” and said “Minnesota wants a veto over federal law enforcement”.They have asked the judge to reject the request or or at least stay her order pending an anticipated appeal.Protests have taken place over the shootings (AP)Mr Ellison said at a news conference on Sunday that he and the cities filed their lawsuit because of “the unprecedented nature of this surge”.He added: “It is a novel abuse of the Constitution that we’re looking at right now. No-one can remember a time when we’ve seen something like this.”DefenceThe hearing comes as senior Trump administration officials have defended the fatal shooting of a US citizen by immigration agents in Minneapolis even as video evidence contradicted their version of events, and tensions grew between police and federal officers.In frigid temperatures and snow, residents yesterday began visiting a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles at the scene of Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.It is the second fatal shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis this month.U.S. immigration agents shot and kill a U.S. citizen in MinneapolisIn defiance of all video footage of the encounter, Trump administration officials insisted that Mr Pretti assaulted officers, compelling them to fire in self-defence.“The victims are Border Patrol agents,” Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol commander-at-large, told CNN.That official line, echoed by Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and other members of the Trump administration yesterday, triggered outrage among local police, many Minneapolis residents and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who pointed to bystander videos that show a different version of events.A sign at the shrine to Alex Pretti in MinneapolisVideos from the scene verified and reviewed by Reuters showed Mr Pretti (37) was holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tried to help other protesters who had been pushed to the ground by agents.As the videos begin, Mr Pretti can be seen filming while a federal agent pushes away one woman and shoves another to the ground. Mr Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself as the agent pepper-sprays him.Several agents then take hold of Mr Pretti, who struggles with them, and force him onto his hands and knees.As the agents pin Mr Pretti down, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about the presence of a gun.Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a gun from Mr Pretti and stepping away from the group with it.Moments later, an officer with a handgun points at Mr Pretti’s back and fires four shots in quick succession.The videos speak for themselvesSeveral more shots can then be heard as another agent appears to fire at Mr Pretti.Darius Reeves, the former head of ICE’s field office in Baltimore, said federal agents’ apparent lack of communication was troubling.“It’s clear no one is communicating to me, based on my observation of how that team responded,” Mr Reeves said. “The proof to me is how everyone scatters. They’re looking around, trying to figure out where the shots came from.”Brian O’Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, told CBS that “the videos speak for themselves”, calling the Trump administration’s version of events deeply disturbing.He said he had seen no evidence that Mr Pretti had brandished a gun.Tensions in the city were already running high after a federal agent shot dead US citizen Renee Good on January 7.Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent earlier this monthTrump officials said she was trying to ram the agent with her car, but other observers have said bystander video indicated she was trying to steer away from the officer who shot her.Federal authorities have refused to allow local officials to participate in their investigation of the incident.Chief executives of some of Minnesota’s largest companies, including Target, Cargill and Best Buy, published a letter calling for the “immediate de- escalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions”.They did not condemn Mr Pretti’s shooting.Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama issued a statement saying many of America’s core values were under assault.“This has to stop,” they said.None of this makes any senseThe deaths of Ms Good and Mr Pretti have sparked large protests in the Democrat-run city, although, yesterday morning, the area where Mr Pretti had been shot was calm.A woman wearing nursing scrubs ventured out in sub-zero temperatures to pay homage to Mr Pretti, who she said worked with her. When asked what brought her out, the woman began to sob.“He was caring and he was kind. None of this makes any sense,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified by name, saying she feared retribution from the federal government.In addition to large protests in Minneapolis since Ms Good’s death, there have been rallies in other cities led by Democratic politicians, including Los Angeles and Washington DC, since Trump began sending immigration agents and National Guard troops to those communities last year.Mr Trump has defended the operations as necessary to reduce crime and enforce immigration laws.
