Camille Naredo

A person walks past a Lady Liberty statue in front of a shuttered gyro shop and a poster calling for a strike of businesses under the banner "ICE out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom" in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 23, 2026. Roberto Schmidt, AFP

A person walks past a Lady Liberty statue in front of a shuttered gyro shop and a poster calling for a strike of businesses under the banner "ICE out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom" in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 23, 2026. The Pentagon has ordered 1,500 US soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to a state roiled by unrest over an immigration crackdown, US media reported on January 18. The reported preparations come days after President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which enables use of the military to suppress "armed rebellion" or "domestic violence" -- although a day later he said there was no immediate need for it. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

Article (news)

Protests after US immigration officer kills woman in Minneapolis

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1769609314373AFP__20260123__93UH4EH__v1__MidRes__ProtestsAfterUsImmigrationOfficerKillsWomanInMin.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A person walks past a Lady Liberty statue in front of a shuttered gyro shop and a poster calling for a strike of businesses under the banner &quot;ICE out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom&quot; in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 23, 2026. Roberto Schmidt, AFP" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A person walks past a Lady Liberty statue in front of a shuttered gyro shop and a poster calling for a strike of businesses under the banner &quot;ICE out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom&quot; in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 23, 2026. <em>Roberto Schmidt, AFP</em></span></span></span>MINNEAPOLIS -- Minneapolis residents waited for Washington to fulfill its promise to &quot;de-escalate&quot; immigration operations in the city on Wednesday, as Donald Trump&#x27;s top aide says federal agents may have breached &quot;protocol&quot; before the fatal shooting of a US citizen.</div><p>Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was killed during a confrontation with federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday -- the second fatal shooting by immigration officers in the city this month.</p><p>His death has become a political flashpoint in Trump&#x27;s immigration crackdown, triggering an unusually broad backlash that threatens to shut down large parts of the federal government.</p><p>British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described Pretti&#x27;s death as &quot;concerning&quot; on Wednesday, and French basketball star Victor Wembanyama said he was &quot;horrified&quot; by the news.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/2026/1/28/wembanyama-horrified-by-minneapolis-killings-0732">READ: Wembanyama &#x27;horrified&#x27; by Minneapolis killings</a></div><p>The US president told Fox News on Tuesday that he was &quot;going to de-escalate a little bit&quot; in Minneapolis following the shooting, but stressed that the plan was not a &quot;pullback.&quot;</p><p>The Republican also acknowledged to the conservative broadcaster that Gregory Bovino, a hardline Border Patrol commander who is now expected to leave the city, was also &quot;a pretty out-there kind of a guy.&quot;</p><p>Trump added that Bovino&#x27;s presence may not have helped the situation.</p><p>White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told AFP that the administration is evaluating whether the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), who gunned down Pretti, failed to follow &quot;clear guidance&quot; to &quot;create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors.&quot;</p><p>&quot;We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol,&quot; Miller said in a statement.</p><p>The White House later clarified that Miller was referring to &quot;general guidance&quot; to immigration agents in Minnesota.</p><p>Trump, scrambling to damage control the situation, told reporters at a White House news briefing on Tuesday that he rejected the &quot;assassin&quot; label previously used by Miller to describe Pretti, adding that he wants &quot;a very honorable and honest investigation.&quot;</p><p>However, the situation in Minneapolis has far from de-escalated, with Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar attacked by a man at a constituent town hall with a syringe of unknown liquid on Tuesday.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/1/28/heckler-sprays-liquid-at-ilhan-omar-during-town-hall-1013">READ: Heckler sprays liquid at Ilhan Omar during town hall</a></div><p>Omar had just spoken about the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and demanded that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem &quot;resign or face impeachment.&quot; Trump said Noem would not step down and was doing a &quot;very good job.&quot;</p><p>A 34-year-old man suspected of human trafficking also suffered serious injuries after exchanging gunfire with Border Patrol agents in Arizona on Tuesday, local authorities said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Serious negative impacts&#x27; -</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAFz8gWM8iRADsJr&amp;cid=ABwz8NE9j7wfPv8i"></script><p>After meeting with Trump border czar Tom Homan on Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that they discussed the &quot;serious negative impacts this operation has had on Minneapolis.&quot;</p><p>He said the city &quot;will not enforce federal immigration laws.&quot;</p><p>Pretti was killed just weeks after the fatal shooting of protester Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7.</p><p>The killings capped months of escalating violence in which masked, unidentified, and heavily armed ICE and border patrol agents have grabbed people they accuse of violations off the streets.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/1/27/minneapolis-mayor-says-some-us-immigration-agents-to-leave-city-1725">READ: Minneapolis mayor says &#x27;some&#x27; US immigration agents to leave city</a></div><p>Despite multiple videos showing that Pretti posed no threat, Bovino and Noem had initially claimed Pretti intended to kill federal agents, calling him a &quot;domestic terrorist.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Government shutdown -</strong></div><p>Republican Senator Rand Paul said on Tuesday that agents involved in the Pretti shooting should be put on administrative leave, later adding that the immigration enforcement leaders would testify before Congress next month.</p><p>The unrest in the city could result in a fresh US government shutdown, with Democrats calling for broad reforms to federal immigration operations at DHS and threatening to block approval of its funding, as part of the spending bills that go up for votes in the Senate later this week.</p><p>The judicial branch also pushed back on Trump&#x27;s actions in Minneapolis on Tuesday, when a US judge blocked the deportation of a five-year-old boy and his father, who were detained last week in another incident that went viral.</p><p>Veteran Brian Furgen, 55, told AFP at a protest at the Minnesota State Capitol on Tuesday that Americans need immigration and customs enforcement agents who &quot;know how to do the job without harming the community.&quot;</p>

<p>Minneapolis residents waited for Washington to fulfill its promise to "de-escalate" immigration operations in the city on Wednesday, as Donald Trump's top aide says federal agents may have breached "protocol" before the fatal shooting of a US citizen.</p>

Minneapolis residents waited for Washington to fulfill its promise to "de-escalate" immigration operations in the city on Wednesday, as Donald Trump's top aide says federal agents may have breached "protocol" before the fatal shooting of a US citizen.

Trump says to 'de-escalate' Minneapolis, as aide questions agents 'protocol'

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Trump says to 'de-escalate' Minneapolis, as aide questions agents 'protocol'

Roberto Schmidt with Danny Kemp in Washington,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jan 28, 2026 10:48 PM PHT

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Minneapolis

United States

immigration

politics

Donald Trump

Alex Pretti

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE

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