BOSTON — U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan called for a “thorough, swift, and independent investigation” following the killing of Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen who died during an encounter with federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.
In a message sent to supporters, Trahan called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately leave Minneapolis, later adding that ICE’s presence in Minneapolis “is making the city less safe for residents, and that must change.”
“Like so many people in Massachusetts and across the country, I’ve been reeling after watching the footage of the most recent killing of a U.S. citizen at the hands of masked federal immigration agents. The footage is graphic and chilling to the bone,” Trahan wrote. “To think that a family will go to bed tonight with an empty seat at the table where Alex Pretti once sat is devastating. The notion that we could allow this atrocity to go unanswered is unthinkable.”
According to Reuters, Pretti, 37, was killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a confrontation with masked federal immigration agents conducting an enforcement operation in Minneapolis. A bystander’s video shows Pretti filming agents before he was pepper-sprayed, taken to the ground, and shot. The Department of Homeland Security said the agent fired in self-defense after he was approached by a man with a handgun who then violently resisted attempts by agents to detain him, but in the bystander video, Pretti was holding a phone, according to Reuters. The shooting marked the second fatal encounter involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in just over two weeks.
Trahan also criticized leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, calling for the removal of Secretary Kristi Noem and accusing the department of failing to hold agents accountable.
“As Secretary of Homeland Security, she has overseen the recruitment and deployment of unvetted and untrained immigration agents,” Trahan wrote. “She has also been implicated in a corrupt scheme to steer taxpayer funded federal contracts to political donors and associates tied to her and her staff.”
Other Massachusetts lawmakers also condemned the killing. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized ICE in a video posted to X, calling the agency “lawless” and accusing it of endangering the public.
“When ICE agents are terrorizing U.S. citizens and snatching up five-year-old kids and shooting innocent people in broad daylight, then what we are really seeing — and I’m sure you’re watching these videos online — we’re seeing a lawless agency that is assaulting our communities and putting our lives at risk,” Warren said. “None of this makes us safer. If we don’t put a stop to this, these guys are going to kill more people.”
We can all see with our own eyes what ICE is doing to our neighbors.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 25, 2026
It’s time for the Senate to step up and do the right thing. Stop this violence. pic.twitter.com/ztCgwTLdSq
Warren also addressed the issue in the context of the federal budget process, noting that Congress must approve 12 funding bills each year to keep the government operating. She said six bills have already passed, but the remaining measures, including funding for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, are due by the end of January. Warren argued that ICE funding should be removed from the broader package and voted on separately.
“Congress needs to put serious conditions on any money ICE gets, including money they approved earlier that they are still spending,” she said. “It is time to hit the brakes.”
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley shared a bystander video of the fatal shooting of Pretti on X, saying that “ICE agents have killed another person on the street…for giving a damn about his neighbors,” and added that the agency “must be abolished.”
ICE agents have killed another person on the street. For simply bearing witness to their cruelty and lawlessness. For giving a damn about his neighbors.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) January 24, 2026
There is no reforming ICE. It must be abolished. pic.twitter.com/e4Un6eeGUe
Pressley’s comments followed calls from Rep. Lori Trahan and other Massachusetts officials for an independent investigation. Federal officials have reported that the shooting remains under investigation.
