America’s largest network of labor unions has condemned ICE after a federal agent on Saturday shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident.
The AFL-CIO, which represents nearly 15 million workers, called Pretti’s death “senseless.”
“As tens of thousands of Minnesotans made clear peacefully and powerfully yesterday, the Trump administration’s horrific operation — and their actions aimed at stoking violence and chaos — must end,” the labor group said in a statement.
“America’s unions join the call for ICE to immediately leave Minnesota before anyone else is hurt or killed. We demand local authorities conduct a full, transparent investigation that will lead to accountability for this tragic and violent act, and for Congress to use its power to hold ICE accountable.”
Scott Olson/Getty Images
A federal agent fatally shot Pretti in Minneapolis, where he worked as an ICU nurse at a US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. Minneapolis police confirmed on Saturday that Pretti is a US citizen. He had been filming the agents when the confrontation began.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Border Patrol and ICE, said Pretti was carrying a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and “approached” agents at the scene. The department said officers tried to disarm Pretti, but he resisted. In multiple videos of the incident, however, Pretti is never seen threatening agents and is disarmed and subdued before he is shot. Minneapolis police said Pretti had a permit to carry the weapon.
The DHS deployed ICE and other federal agents to Minnesota as part of an immigration enforcement sweep called Operation Metro Surge, which began in December. The department says it has deployed around 2,000 federal agents across the state to detain and deport illegal immigrants. Trump has made securing the border and deporting those in the US who lack proper paperwork a central part of his administration’s agenda.
Local residents and business owners, however, have criticized the tactics federal agents are using to find and detain those people, resulting in protests across the state. Tensions further escalated after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old American citizen, on January 7.
The CEOs of Minnesota’s largest businesses, including Target, Cargill, Allianz, and UnitedHealth, called for “immediate de-escalation” in a joint statement on Sunday.
ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP
On Saturday, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham shared a statement calling for a “full and transparent investigation” into the recent shootings.
“‘Operation Metro Surge’ is not and has never been about enforcing immigration law. This is about a President who is angry with the people of Minnesota for disagreeing with his policies and is weaponizing the federal government against us in retribution,” Burnham said.
The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing Pretti and other federal workers in the US, also criticized the Trump administration in a statement on Saturday. As an employee of the VA hospital, Pretti was a member of AFGE Local 3669.
“While details of the incident are still emerging, one fact is already clear: this tragedy did not happen in a vacuum. It is the direct result of an administration that has chosen reckless policy, inflammatory rhetoric, and manufactured crisis over responsible leadership and de-escalation,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in the statement.
Kelley said the presence of federal agents has stoked fear and division in the community.
“I urge everyone to remain disciplined and measured in public, even as we are rightly angry. Still, we must do what we can to maintain peace and calm,” Kelley said. “But do not mistake restraint for acceptance. Accountability will come, and AFGE will not be silent about the policies and decisions that led us here.”
