Barack Obama makes rare political statement condemning Trump’s administration over Alex Pretti’s Minnesota shooting

Barack Obama has made a rare political statement to condemn Donald Trump’s administration over two recent fatal shootings by immigration officers in Minnesota. 

‘The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy,’ the former president wrote on X in the wake of the most recent horror on Sunday. 

‘It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.’

Obama placed the blame for Pretti’s death, along with the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in the same city, squarely on the shoulders of the ICE and Border Patrol officers involved, and on Trump administration officials who have defended them. 

The Democrat politician said the federal agents caused the deaths by using ’embarrassing, lawless and cruel tactics’ which have endangered US citizens. 

He also slammed government officials for being ‘eager to escalate the situation while offering public explanations for the shooting that aren’t informed by any serious investigations – and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence’. 

Pretti, who was armed, was gunned down amid a scuffle with Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis on Saturday, while Good, a 37-year-old mother-of-three, was killed by ICE agents who shot through the windshield of her car on January 7. 

Both victims are believed to have been protesting the increasingly aggressive tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to deport illegal migrants, and their deaths have only caused rallies against the agency to snowball. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said agents acted in self-defense in both cases, while President Trump has blamed Good and Pretti for their own deaths. 

Obama’s statement picks apart the claims made by Trump officials, and praises demonstrators who have taken part in ‘peaceful protests’ across America despite the violent crackdown. 

The 44th US President acknowledged that while federal law enforcement agents have ‘a tough job’, they are expected to ‘carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way’. 

‘That’s not what we’re seeing in Minnesota,’ he wrote. ‘In fact, we’re seeing the opposite.’

Obama added that people have been ‘rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city’. 

Obama pointed out that these tactics have enraged even the former top lawyer for DHS under the first Trump administration, John Mitnick. 

‘This has to stop,’ he wrote.  

‘I would hope that after this most recent tragedy, administration officials will reconsider their approach and start finding ways to work constructively with Governor Walz and Mayor Frey as well as state and local police to avert more chaos.

‘In the meantime, every American should support and draw inspiration from the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country. 

‘They are a timely reminder that ultimately it’s up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our basic freedoms, and hold our government accountable.’ 

Obama’s statement was issued from his X account, jointly with his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama. 

Pretti’s death came amid a protest against the federal immigration crackdown on Saturday.  

The intensive care nurse was armed with a loaded Sig Sauer P320 9mm pistol – which he had a legal permit to carry – when he allegedly tried to stop agents from arresting a woman before a scuffle ensued. 

This is a breaking news story with updates to follow.