Trump shares picture of ‘loaded gun’ and says Minnesota’s leaders are ‘inciting insurrection’ after man, 37, was shot and killed by federal agent

Donald Trump shared a photograph of what he described as a ‘loaded’ handgun on Saturday, accusing Minneapolis officials of abandoning federal officers hours after an American citizen was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was killed in an altercation involving multiple federal officers during what the Department of Homeland Security described as a targeted enforcement action.

Video shows multiple agents wrestling Pretti to the ground before one federal agent fires several shots into his chest at close range, after which the agents scatter from the scene.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to the Daily Mail that the gun seen in Trump’s image was recovered at the scene and that the man who was killed was armed at the time of the encounter. 

Federal officials said the firearm and magazines were taken into custody following the shooting.

The image posted by Trump on Truth Social shows a semi‑automatic handgun alongside extra ammunition.

Trump claimed the weapon belonged to the man who was fatally shot, writing that it was ‘loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go,’ while questioning why local police were not present to protect federal agents.

‘Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?’ Trump wrote, accusing the city’s mayor and Minnesota’s governor of ‘calling them off’ and leaving federal officers to defend themselves.

This marks the third shooting in recent weeks involving federal agents in Minneapolis – coming after an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on January 7 and another federal agent wounded a man about a week later. 

In the same post, Trump launched into a sweeping tirade, claiming that local police were prevented from doing their jobs and that federal agents were forced to protect themselves.

He alleged – without providing evidence – that Rep Ilhan Omar had ‘$34 million’ in her account and that ‘tens of billions of dollars’ had been stolen from Minnesota through massive fraud, which he likened to ‘a really big bank robbery.’

Trump claimed the operation was necessary to recover stolen taxpayer money and accused Minnesota leaders of allowing ‘illegal criminal’ migrants to infiltrate the state due to Democrats’ ‘open border policy.’

He accused the city’s mayor and the state’s governor of ‘inciting insurrection,’ calling them ‘sanctimonious political fools,’ and demanded that ICE be allowed to operate without interference.

In a follow up post on Truth Social, the president added: ‘AMONG OTHER THINGS, THIS IS A ‘COVER UP’ FOR THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT HAVE BEEN STOLEN FROM THE ONCE GREAT STATE (BUT SOON TO BE GREAT AGAIN!) OF MINNESOTA! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.

At a news conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot was a 37-year-old white man with no serious criminal history and a record that showed only some parking tickets. 

O’Hara said the man was a ‘lawful gun owner’ with a permit. Records show that Pretti attended the University of Minnesota. 

Minnesota law allows permit holders to openly carry handguns in public without concealing them. 

State records show Pretti was issued a nursing license in 2021, and it remains active through March 2026.

Meanwhile Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said the agent who fired the fatal shots had been serving with the Border Patrol for the past eight years. 

After the shooting chaos ensued near the scene. DHS wrote that ‘about 200 rioters arrived at the scene and began to obstruct and assault law enforcement,’ leading to the deployment of crowd-control measures.

The city’s police department and officials with the Minnesota State Patrol are on scene and working to keep hundreds of observers and protesters separated from the federal agents.

As crowds continue to gather, the Minnesota State Patrol declared an ‘unlawful assembly,’ in the vicinity of the fatal shooting.

Protesters are blocking streets with dumpsters and restaurant furniture while shouting ‘ICE go home!’ at agents, with the area still secured with police tape, according to the Star Tribune.

At least two flash-bangs have gone off as agents only continue to push back protesters with tear gas, with the fumes still lingering in the air, the outlet reported.

Protesters are remaining on the scene, screaming behind barriers, banging on dumpsters and running backwards whenever officials deploy tear gas.

Residents are shouting at agents, calling them ‘Nazis’ and insisting that all immigrants are welcome, while others are frantically trying to move their parked cars out of the area.

Chief O’Hara said during the press conference that two small fires have been set, and police and fire departments are working together to extinguish them.

One protester, who the New York Times said either dropped or threw his sunglasses, was met with pepper-spray to the face.

‘This is not OK for our city,’ Joy, a 55-year-old resident at the scene told CBS News. ‘This is when we show our resolve as a city because we’re better than this. We are under attack by this administration right now and this is not OK. It’s just not.’

Several witnesses were transported to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as ICE agents tried to order local police to leave the scene, but Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara refused.

O’Hara has instructed his officers to preserve the scene, with Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty stating that her office is working alongside the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) to coordinate a state response.

‘The scene must be secured by local law enforcement for the collection and preservation of evidence,’ Moriarty said, according to the Tribune.

‘We expect the federal government to allow the BCA to process the scene,’ she added.

Moriarty has also launched a secure portal for people to submit video and other evidence from the scene of Saturday’s shooting.

During Saturday’s news conference, Mayor Jacob Frey called the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown an ‘invasion’ by masked agents acting with impunity.

‘How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?’ Frey declared, adding that the operations are ‘not creating safety in our city.’

He then singled out Trump, demanding that he ‘be a leader.’

‘Put Minneapolis, put America first,’ Frey said, urging the president to ‘take action now and remove these federal agents.’

Governor Tim Walz responded on X with a blistering demand directed at President Donald Trump.

‘I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening,’ Walz wrote.

‘The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota,’ he added. ‘Now.’

In another statement to X, Senator Amy Klobuchar wrote: ‘There has been another shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis and I am working to get more information.’

‘To the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress who have stood silent: Get ICE out of our state NOW,’ she added.

Minnesota Representative IIhan Omar shared the video to X and wrote that it appears to be ‘an execution by immigration enforcement.’

‘I am absolutely heartbroken, horrified, and appalled that federal agents murdered another member of our community. It is beyond shameful these federal agents are targeting our residents instead of protecting them,’ she wrote.

Omar claimed that the incident ‘isn’t isolated or accidental,’ and said that the Trump administration is ‘trying to beat us into submission rather than protect us.’

‘This administration cannot continue violating constitutional rights under the guise of immigration enforcement. ICE and CBP must leave Minnesota immediately,’ the rep wrote.

‘Their presence is terrorizing our communities, violating rights, and taking lives with zero accountability,’ she added.

‘Minnesota was once a place of refuge, and Trump has turned it into a war zone where unchecked federal forces murder our neighbors.’

Senator Erin Murphy, the top Democrat in the state’s Senate, issued a statement demanding an end to the federal operation.

‘ICE is a brutal invading force that acts without accountability or the most basic respect for human dignity or life,’ she said. ‘These agents of violence need to be brought to justice.’

Saturday’s fatal shooting comes just a week after an ICE agent, who DHS said feared for his life, fired a ‘defensive shot’ at illegal migrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis, striking him in the leg.

Sosa-Celis was taken into custody after a targeted traffic stop turned violent, according to DHS.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents tried to pull him over, but Sosa-Celis allegedly sped off, crashed into a parked car and then fled on foot.

A pursuit ensued and agents tried to detain him, but he resisted arrest and violently assaulted an officer, the Trump administration said. A struggle broke out, bringing both Sosa-Celis and the officer to the ground.

That’s when Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledzema allegedly came out of a nearby apartment and began to attack the agent with a snow shovel and broom handle.

Sosa-Celis managed to escape while the other suspects carried out their attack. He then picked up the shovel or broom and started to strike the officer.

The three suspects, all Venezuelan nationals who entered the US under the Biden administration, ran back inside and barricaded themselves in the apartment. They were later arrested by ICE officials and charged with attempted murder.

The Daily Mail has reached out to DHS and the Minneapolis Police Department for comment.