https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-24-2026
"This morning, on a street in Minneapolis, at least seven federal agents
tackled and then shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse
for the local VA hospital.
Video from the scene shows Pretti directing traffic on a street out of an area
with agents around, then trying to help another person get up after she had
been pushed to the ground by the agents. The agents then surround Pretti and
shoot pepper spray into his face, then pull him to the ground from behind and
hit him as he appears to be trying to keep his head off the ground. An agent
appears to take a gun out of Pretti’s waistband during the struggle, then turns
and leaves with it. A shot then stops Pretti’s movements, appearing to kill
him, before nine more shots ring out, apparently as agents continued to fire
into his body.
It looked like an execution.
After he was dead, the agents walked away, apparently making no effort to
preserve the crime scene, which people on the street later tried to secure by
walling it off with trash bins.
As journalist Philip Bump noted, administration officials didn’t even pretend
to wait for more information before jumping straight to “the opponent of the
state deserved it.”
Mitch Smith of the
New York Times reported that federal agents have blocked
state investigators from the scene. Drew Evans of the Minnesota Bureau of
Criminal Apprehension, a statewide investigations team that specializes in
police shootings, told reporters his agency had obtained a search warrant—a
rare step—but the federal government still refused them access.
Tonight, in a lawsuit against Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and other
administration officials, Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison asked a
judge for a temporary restraining order to prevent DHS agents from destroying
evidence related to the shooting. The suit noted the “astonishing” departure
from normal investigations, seemingly trying not to preserve evidence but to
destroy it. A judge, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, immediately
granted the restraining order, barring the administration from “destroying or
altering evidence” concerning the killing.
Ernesto Londoño of the
New York Times reported that federal officials also
“have refused to disclose the identities of federal agents involved in
Saturday’s shooting, as well as the names of federal agents who have shot
people in recent days.”
Minnesota police have refused to obey the federal officers, though. Local law
enforcement has been talking to witnesses and finding videos of the shooting.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference: “Our demand
today is for those federal agencies that are operating in our city to do so
with the same discipline, humanity, and integrity that effective law
enforcement in this country demands. We urge everyone to remain peaceful.”"
Resist,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
