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Minnesota and Sunday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sun Jan 25, 2026 at 08:23:23 PM EST
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A Minnesota judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security prohibiting it from destroying evidence pertaining to the killing of Alex Pretti.

U.S. District Court Judge Eric Tostrud granted a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Saturday, barring the department from altering or destroying evidence connected to Pretti's killing.

How about a restraining order banning ICE from conducting enforcement operations in Minnesota?

The Wall St. Journal (free link here) says the videos don't support the claims of law enforcement. I'm not surprised, are you?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    I think Kristi (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 07:26:51 PM EST
    is going to be the goat.

    On CNN they are playing the video of the killing  while playing the audio of her description of the killing.

    It's pretty effective.

    Kristi would make a good goat. I think the little storm trooper wannabe is already gone.

    It won't change anything. But it's not bad.

    Gregory Bovino has been removed ... (none / 0) (#19)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 07:49:51 PM EST
    ... from operational command in the Twin Cities. Of course, he's being replaced by the architect of Trump 1.0's family separation policy, a man who's also been credibly accused of accepting a $50,000 cash bribe from undercover FBI agents.  

    Parent
    Yeah (none / 0) (#20)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 08:00:38 PM EST
    Rearranging the deck chairs is not going to do it.

    Clearly Trump doesn't get that yet. But I think he will.  I expect that guy to leave his position,  probably for a better paying one in the right wing world.

    Parent

    He's gone (none / 0) (#21)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 08:04:57 PM EST
    Says the Atlantic

    Greg Bovino Loses His Job
    The Border Patrol chief has been ousted from his role as "commander at large," and will return to El Centro.



    Parent

    Under the stewardship of Kristie Noem, ... (none / 0) (#1)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Jan 25, 2026 at 09:36:24 PM EST
    Here is the initial DHS statement on Alex Pretti's killing:

    Dept. of Homeland Security
    11:31am CST
    Minneapolis, MN

    At 9:05 AM CT, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault, an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, seen here.

    The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. More details on the armed struggle are forthcoming.

    Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.

    The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID--this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.

    About 200 rioters arrived at the scene and began to obstruct and assault law enforcement on the scene, crowd control measures were deployed for the safety of the public and law enforcement.

    This situation is evolving, and more information is forthcoming.

    ... aka Gauleiter Barbie, DHS has become a wholly unreliable and consistently disingenuous narrator of events such as Saturday morning's tragedy. The word choice "approached with a 9mm" is evidence of a clear intent to mislead the reader into thinking the victim, Alex Pretti, was brandishing a firearm as he approached U.S. Border Patrol agents.

    In fact, the gun was holstered. Mr. Pretti had a valid license to carry, and per the videos released to the public, he was filming federal activities with his cell phone. Federal agents approached Pretti and another woman and instigated the confrontation. One violently pushed the woman to the ground and then pepper-sprayed Pretti, who was swarmed by agents and taken to the ground.

    At one point, one of the agents unholstered Pretti's 9mm and removed it, but as he turned and spun away from the pile-on, the gun appears to have gone off. The other agents fired nine times into the victim, likely killing him instantly.

    At the minimum, what we witness on these videos is, at a minimum, felony assault and manslaughter. The was no legal justification for arresting and detaining the victim and yet, he was pepper-sprayed and gang-tackled in egregious violation of his rights under both the First and Second Amendments, and then he was killed after he had been disarmed.

    Thank heavens for cell phone videos.

    Looked like another murder to me. (5.00 / 3) (#2)
    by desertswine on Sun Jan 25, 2026 at 10:16:52 PM EST
    And nothing like Nazi Barbie described.

    Parent
    I won[t disagree with you. (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 02:13:24 PM EST
    There are several videos of Saturday morning's fatal encounter, but no matter the angle you see it, it's all pretty damning with regard to the horrific conduct of DHS personnel.

    Even a number of Fox News folks have sounded repulsed by what they saw, even as they try to be supportive. A few of them have been pushing back on the official line from DHS and the Trump regime that Alex Pretti was the instigator and aggressor, and a domestic terrorist bent on inflicting mayhem.

    Further, the Second Amendment people are in an uproar over the regime's claim - via that sage of the bar, Kash Patel - that carrying a weapon at a public protest is illegal. While I might contend that packing heat at a public event such as a political demonstration is probably ill-advised, it most certainly is not illegal.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    I cannot access the WSJ article linked by Jeralyn (none / 0) (#12)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 03:20:46 PM EST
    So if anything I say here is contradicted by that article please let me know.

    Looking at this only in regard to what is factual, it has been reported that Pretti had a license to carry and that, with that license, it is legal to carry at a protest. It has also been reported that even with that license to carry, it is not legal to carry without ID, and that Pretti did not have ID.

    It also has been reported that he stepped in and got peripherally involved in the larger incident a short time before he was specifically targeted by LE. My understanding is that it is generally illegal to obstruct, resist, or delay law enforcement officers.

    It seems clear that he was unarmed when the shots were fired. It is reported that the first shot was fired from Pretti's own gun by the person who disarmed him just as that person was turning away from Pretti.

    Opinion: I am unsurprised that these yahoos don't follow the fundamental rule of gun safety in that you don't put your finger on the gd trigger until you are ready to fire.

    Despite all that, it's also my opinion that Pretti was unlawfully executed.

    Parent

    A real investigation (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by KeysDan on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 06:41:00 PM EST
    should be routine in this case, so as to answer the several questions of the shooting to death of Alex Pretti by federal agents.

    With regard to the Minnesota law, a gun owner must carry both a valid permit to carry and a government-issued ID (e.g., driver's license) when in possession of a hand gun. You are required to display both documents upon a lawful demand of a peace officer.

    Noncompliance is a petty misdemeanor. If cited, penalty for a first offense is a fine of $25. If you can later prove in Court that you were authorized to carry at the time of the stop, the citation must be dismissed.

    Parent

    ICE said (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by fishcamp on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 06:53:27 PM EST
    he didn't have his proper ID with  him, but do we believe them?

    Parent
    Still (none / 0) (#16)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 07:05:04 PM EST
    shot 9 times seems like an over reaction.  Or was it 10?

    Parent
    There are clearly ten shots heard ... (none / 0) (#22)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 08:22:02 PM EST
    ... and clearly audible on the video I watched. Alex Pretti first appears (0:10) recording the ICE activity at the corner of W. 26th Street and Nicollet Ave. An agent violently pushed a woman to the ground (0:35). When Pretti tried to help her up (while still recording the encounter with his cellphone), he was pepper-sprayed (0:41) and then tackled. Another agent in a grey jacket takes Pretti's gun (1:00). Ten shots are fired in rapid succession (1:02-1:07) while Pretti is on his knees and as he pitches forward.

    Parent
    The most telling part of this story (none / 0) (#17)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 07:07:38 PM EST
    is that as the guy lay there dying instead of providing aid they were counting the times they got him.

    There's video of this.  

    Parent

    Never having (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by jmacWA on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 04:50:22 AM EST
    been sprayed with pepper spray, no less directly in the face, I am not sure... but I bet MOST would resist violently.

    Parent
    And. (none / 0) (#4)
    by KeysDan on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 08:56:07 AM EST
    they refer to the protester/victim as the "suspect".

    Parent
    A photo (none / 0) (#5)
    by KeysDan on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 12:02:13 PM EST
    for Democrats campaign ad. Courtesy of Vance.

    The ground under this (none / 0) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 12:11:12 PM EST
    seems to be shifting.  
    Even FOX is rolling their eyes.  

    This really could be a pivotal moment.

     

    I am (none / 0) (#7)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 12:53:26 PM EST
    afraid to say it but it could be the beginning of the end. Maybe murdering 2 protestors in MN is the bottom we have finally reached.

    Parent
    It ironic (none / 0) (#10)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 03:06:37 PM EST
    that the fact the guy had a gun, and they are making it a reason to kill him while Kyle Rittenhouse is walking around, may force them to some accountability.

    Parent
    I guess if he had (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 03:09:24 PM EST
    shot a couple of protesters that would have been fine.

    Parent
    According to Gov. Tim Walz's office, ... (none / 0) (#8)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 01:58:50 PM EST
    ... Trump has agreed to reduce ICE and DHS presence in Minnesota and allow state and local law enforcement to fully investigate this past weekend's shooting.

    I don't think that Walz or AG Keith Ellison necessarily needed Trump's permission for the latter, but anyway, there we are. Given that Minnesota's immigrant population is only 130,000, it's pretty clear that this surge in the Twin Cities was never really about immigration per se.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Republican candidate for gov of Minnesota (none / 0) (#13)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 03:57:03 PM EST
    just dropped out because he can't be a Republican and sleep at night.

    Madel, an attorney, also argued that "the national Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota."

    His decision to drop out of the race marks some of the most pointed GOP backlash yet to Republicans' handling of the killing of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent.

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