Walz calls federal immigration tactics ‘illegal and un-American’ after Minneapolis shooting and escalating protests

What happened and why state leaders say federal tactics crossed legal lines

Governor Tim Walz on Sunday described federal immigration-enforcement tactics in Minneapolis as “illegal and un-American,” as the state faces intensifying fallout from the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis intensive care nurse, by federal Border Patrol personnel on January 24, 2026. Walz has urged the White House to reduce the federal presence in the Twin Cities and support investigations that state and local officials say must be independent and evidence-driven.

The shooting has become a flashpoint in a broader dispute over a large-scale federal immigration operation that state and city leaders say began in December 2025. In court filings and public statements, Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul have characterized the deployment as unprecedented in size and scope, and have sought a court order to halt it.

Conflicting accounts and the central role of video

Federal officials have defended the Pretti shooting as self-defense, asserting he posed a threat. At the same time, bystander videos circulating widely have fueled questions about whether Pretti was armed at the moment he was shot and about the sequence of events leading up to the use of lethal force. The dispute over what the video shows has become central to public demands for accountability and to legal efforts aimed at preserving evidence.

Pretti’s death followed another fatal incident earlier this month. Renée Nicole Good, also 37 and a U.S. citizen, was shot and killed on January 7, 2026 during an encounter involving an ICE officer. The back-to-back deaths have sharpened scrutiny of use-of-force decisions by federal personnel operating in local neighborhoods.

Lawsuits challenge the federal deployment and allege constitutional violations

On January 12, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, joined by Minneapolis and Saint Paul, filed a federal lawsuit seeking to end the operation they describe as “Operation Metro Surge.” The suit argues the deployment and enforcement practices violated constitutional limits and imposed significant operational and financial burdens on local governments, including the diversion of public-safety resources.

A separate class-action case filed January 15 alleges suspicionless stops, warrantless arrests and racial profiling. Both matters are expected to shape how courts evaluate the boundaries between federal immigration authority and state and local policing responsibilities.

Street-level tensions rise after the shooting

Public demonstrations have continued in Minneapolis since the January 24 shooting. On the night of January 25, a protest outside a hotel where demonstrators believed federal agents were staying escalated; chemical irritants were deployed and state officials later described a breakdown in coordination as federal personnel arrived and cleared the area.

Key questions now focus on what occurred in the minutes before shots were fired, what federal policies governed crowd interactions, and how evidence from body-worn and bystander video will be secured and reviewed.

• January 7, 2026: Renée Nicole Good fatally shot during an enforcement encounter.
• January 12, 2026: Minnesota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul file suit seeking to halt Operation Metro Surge.
• January 24, 2026: Alex Pretti fatally shot by federal Border Patrol personnel in Minneapolis.
• January 25–26, 2026: Protests intensify; chemical irritants used outside a Minneapolis hotel.

As of Monday, January 26, multiple investigations and court proceedings are running in parallel, with state leaders pressing for evidence preservation and clear jurisdictional authority while the federal government continues to defend its enforcement posture.