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Minnesota Leaders Condemn Deadly Shooting Of Alex Pretti; Minnesota Gov. Walz And AG Ellison Give Update On Minneapolis Shooting; ICE, Border Patrol Officials Give Update On Minneapolis Shooting. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired January 25, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:01:12]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. Breaking news. We're following two major stories this morning.
In just moments, we'll hear directly from Minnesota's governor, Tim Walz, as his state is grappling with another fatal shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis.
ICE and border patrol will also be giving an update simultaneously.
And massive winter storm. Millions from the south to the northeast are now grappling with snow, ice and extreme cold. Almost a million homes and businesses are already without power.
Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world.
I'm Wolf Blitzer, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
We're standing by for a press conference to begin with. ICE and border patrol leadership on the latest developments in Minneapolis. We'll bring that to you once it gets underway.
And our breaking news coverage continues out of Minnesota as well. The shooting death of another U.S. citizen by federal agents is reigniting tensions not only there, but nationwide.
Thousands protested from California to here in Washington, D.C., after ICE shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday. I want to warn our viewers the video you're about to see is disturbing, and it shows the moments leading up to the shooting. Pretti's family said in a statement that he was an ICU nurse at the local V.A. hospital there.
We're also learning that he was a legal -- he had a legal permit to carry a gun. And a CNN review of witness videos does not show Pretti ever taking it out.
I want to bring in right now CNN anchor and senior national correspondent Sara Sidner, who is joining us live once again in Minneapolis. Sara, give us a sense of what the city is feeling today. SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, people are
feeling very somber and sorrowful at this hour as they continue to build this memorial to Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked at the Veterans Hospital.
And they're seeing new images of him while he was still alive, praying over the body of a fallen soldier at that hospital. And you're seeing a lot of people just come here to express their love for him and to try to honor him the way that they remember him as a person who was here to observe the actions of ICE, who at that point had already shot two people in his community, killing, of course, Renee Good and shooting another man and injuring him.
He ended up being the latest victim of border patrol of federal agents.
Sorry. It's ok. There are a lot of people just trying to find their way around and get to the memorial to lay down things like, you know, roses.
But let's go ahead and listen now because Governor Walz is speaking now. Let's listen in.
(LIVE EVENT)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D), MINNESOTA: And during that time of everything that's happened, I hope everyone's taking away a picture of a life of generosity, service-oriented, and his life's coming into clear focus.
I had the privilege of talking with Michael and Susan, Alex's parents yesterday. And the heartache in the hours after your son's murdered in front of the world is one thing but what stood out to me was a parent's desire and their passion to make sure that the story of Alex was told.
[14:04:53]
WALZ: Someone who went to work to care for veterans. Someone who was a valued coworker. Someone who relished and lived in this state in a big way, whether it was outdoor activities or being down there on the street as a First Amendment witness to what ICE is doing to this -- to this state.
So once again, to Michael and Susan, when I talk to these parents, it's always in deep, confidential conversation. In this one, though, Michael was very clear to me. He said, don't let them forget Alex's story.
The world knows how he died. He died at the hands of ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis. They want us to make sure we said how he lived.
So to Michael and Susan, our deepest sympathies, but you have my commitment to continue to tell that story.
So now we've got two Minnesotans dead. We didn't have time to start telling Renee's story of a poet and a mother and a bright spirit. And now we're telling Alex's story.
So my question is, what's the plan, Donald Trump? What is the plan? What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state?
You thought fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us. And you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation. We are tired, but we're resolved. We're peaceful, but we'll never forget. We're angry, but we won't give up hope. And above all else, we are clearly unified.
If it was the intention of Donald Trump to make an example of Minnesota, then I'm damn proud of the example that the world is seeing.
We believe in law and order in this state. We believe in peace. And we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person and we're up here telling another story of a Minnesotan just trying to live their life without the interference.
To Americans who are watching this right now, and I don't know, maybe you're watching it with curiosity, bewilderment, horror, scorn, or sympathy. I've got a question for all of you. What side do you want to be on? The side of an all-powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the streets, or on the side of a nurse at the V.A. Hospital who died bearing witness to such government, or the side of a mother whose last words were, "I'm not mad at you".
The sight of tens of thousands of peaceful citizens who showed up to march when the wind chill was 40 below, because they love this state and they love this country.
You're allowed to decide at any point that you're not with this anymore. If you voted for this administration, heck, even if you thought Operation Metro Surge was a good idea, sounded like the thing to do a month ago, you're still allowed to look at what's happening here in Minnesota and say, this isn't what I voted for, and this isn't what I want.
I ask you not to stand by idly, speak out, share what you're seeing, and urge others to put politics aside. We're no longer having a political debate. We're having a moral debate.
We all want secure borders and immigration enforcement that prioritizes criminals. And I want to thank the press, especially the local press, who has done a deep dive to show that's exactly what Minnesota does.
But what you're seeing is not common sense, lawful or humane enforcement. That's not what this occupation is about.
Let me say our conversation should not be about, and I know we get asked of what we're doing on there, how many state patrol or police or national guard I can put on the street. This isn't about how many people I can put on the street. It's about how many of these people, these ICE agents and whoever else was thrown into this unholy mess. How many Donald Trump can get out of here?
Minnesotans, you've won the hearts and minds of people across this country, and you've done it through your peaceful, resolved defense of your neighbors and the Constitution.
So once again Minnesotans, stay peaceful, stay safe. Change is coming and we can feel it. But this fight still goes on, and I'm just glad today to be joined in person, because it's someone who's been at the side of Minnesotans throughout this and through every other thing we've gone through over the last seven years, someone who we describe as the people's lawyer, someone who is fighting this battle for the Constitution, for the safety of Minnesotans in courts every single day.
[14:09:52]
WALZ: I want to give this over to Attorney General Keith Ellison to talk a little bit about what's going on with the state, on some of the lawsuits and what our expectations are in the coming days.
Attorney General.
KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you, Governor.
Governor Walz, thank you for your excellent leadership during this very, very difficult time, this unprecedented time, Governor, because quite honestly, there has never been a deployment of immigration agents this size in the history of the United States.
There have been times in American history where they've deported a lot of people, but a concentrated deployment of ICE agents in one state in one period of time is unprecedented.
And therefore there's no playbook, and therefore nobody knows exactly how to deal with this situation. But it is unique and particularly puzzling, given that Minnesota does not have the highest immigration in the United States.
Given that Minnesota has a very, very professional community of law enforcement, professionals who are taking care of the safety of our state. Given the fact that the Department of Corrections, pursuant to state law, hands over people who ICE is looking for, and they have proper paperwork for.
Given all of that, this is a very curious situation and would reasonably lead someone to ask why.
So let me talk about Alex Pretti. Alex Pretti was a nurse at the V.A. I happen to have a son who's 31 years old, who spent five years in the United States military as a combat medic. But toward the end of his deployment and the end of his service, he wanted to go into nursing. And so he did. And he ended up getting an RN degree and works in the health care system here in Minnesota.
And when he was at work today and last night, he said, look, my colleagues were crying and in tears. And they took this hit to one of their own very personally.
And he said, I did, too. He said, I didn't -- I didn't find myself shedding tears, but I could have because I just was broken-hearted, because I know the service that he and the love and compassion he puts into taking care of the people he took care of at the V.A.
An intensive care nurse -- kind, compassionate person to friend and family, described by co-workers as the first person who would jump in to help. And he was our neighbor, and he should still be with us right now.
So let me just note that Superintendent Drew Evans of the BCA, another exemplary professional in our state. He is -- the BCA is the state's investigative agency, and it is their job to investigate crime. They have a specialized unit to investigate the use of force cases.
They arrived on site after the shooting and were refused access. They were then -- they then secured a judicial warrant, a warrant signed by a judge, which has never been needed before, and were still refused access.
This is uncharted territory. Now friends, this comes at the tail end of other offenses, like a shooting in north Minneapolis and another homicide in south Minneapolis, Renee Nicole Good, where they also were denied access to the scene. And investigators are to this moment, still being denied access to the investigative file.
This is not a rash decision for us to go to court and to seek a temporary restraining order from a judge to preserve evidence and prevent the destruction of evidence.
I don't care if you're conservative, liberal or whatever, but you should at least be in favor of conserving evidence in a homicide and to have to go get an order from a judge to preserve that evidence is extraordinary and should alarm everyone who believes in equal justice under the law, and who believes that every person, no matter how this case, ultimately is resolved, deserves to have their case investigated to get to the truth of what happened.
This is an extraordinary moment in an unprecedented time, and we're doing all we can to step up to that moment.
My office represents the BCA and enjoined the Hennepin County attorney's office in a lawsuit last night, as you know. And we prevented -- moved to prevent the destruction and/or tampering with evidence related to Alex Pretti's shooting.
[14:14:45]
ELLISON: And this includes any evidence that federal agents took from the scene of the shooting, preventing the state authorities from inspecting it.
We've never had to do anything like this before. Never before. We filed that motion last night and for a temporary restraining order asking the court to take immediate action to preserve the evidence. And last night, within two hours of the filing, a judge granted the motion.
The Department of Homeland Security and the federal government are now enjoined from destroying or altering evidence related to yesterday's shooting.
The fact that anyone would ever think that an agent of the federal government might even think about doing such a thing was completely unforeseeable only a few weeks ago.
But now this is what we have to do. As we said in our filing last night, the irreparable harm we would suffer if the federal government were allowed to destroy evidence is so weighty that any harm to the federal -- any harm to the federal government, does not even budge the scales in a court balancing of the scales.
It's imperative -- it's imperative that we preserve as much evidence as possible so that the state investigators are allowed to access the evidence to ensure a fair, thorough investigation.
And I will say I've heard not one single law enforcement or investigative agent in the state of Minnesota say that they won't share that information with the federal government. I've heard quite the opposite from the federal government.
Now Operation Metro Surge, as I noted when I started, this appears to be the largest single deployment or surge of immigration agents in the history of the country. And as a result, tremendous damage has been inflicted upon our state.
We've had two killings within two weeks and an additional non-lethal shooting. We've had countless numbers of people who have been stopped and had their -- had the demand for their papers, to have to show their papers in America. We've had door-to-door knocks where people have been -- had their homes barged into without -- without -- without cause of right.
And we've had stores have to shutter, school students not going to school. We've had reduction in employees going to their job sites. We've had jobs being -- little markets being shut down, restaurants being interfered with. We've had a countless number of harms.
And so we took the action of suing the federal government over Operation Metro Surge. And tomorrow morning, I'm going to be in federal court with my team arguing for a restraining order against Operation Metro Surge.
I filed this case almost two weeks ago, and this will be our first hearing. The lawsuit we filed is one that is more -- is caused by the unprecedented nature of this of this surge.
It is a novel abuse of the Constitution that we're looking at right now. No one can remember a time when we've seen something like this, when a state can marshal facts to show that our targeting is not based on excessive amounts of undocumented immigrants or anything like that. But we're -- but we're targeted because of politics, which violates our First Amendment rights. The 10th amendment, which we are entitled as a state to equal
sovereignty. And we have been denied that. The federal government is literally commandeering and coercing the state of Minnesota to bend to its will, which is the prerogative of the people of the state of Minnesota.
Let me remind everybody. Let me take everybody back to eighth grade civics. The states predate the United States and came into the union, preserving their rights as states to be the states that the citizens of those states want them to be within a constitutional framework.
It is at the fundamental -- it is in the DNA of American history that the federal government cannot trample over the prerogatives of the state. And that is exactly what is happening here. And that is exactly why we're going to court.
This surge has drained local law enforcement time and resources. Jacob Frey, if he were here, could tell you that they've spent north of $2 million on overtime responding to ICE.
They've damaged our economy, hurt our education system, and terrorized community members. And it must stop and tomorrow is a big step in that direction.
Now, as I noted a moment ago, people will ask, well, why Minnesota?
[14:19:47]
ELLISON: I'll say this. Minnesota is dealing with targeted oppression from the federal government because of who we are and who we value.
Minnesota is a place where we welcome the stranger. We have a number of nonprofits that focus on refugee resettlement in Minnesota.
Minnesota is a place where we take care of the vulnerable among us. We're a state that just passed paid family leave. We're a state that believes in feeding our kids who are in school. And we're a state that believes that Minnesota is a great place to live for everyone, no matter where you were born.
Of course, we obey all laws, but we still believe that immigration is not a sin.
We're living -- they're coming after our state, in my view, because of what we stand for. Because we voted three times in favor of somebody not Donald Trump, which he has publicly said he resents deeply and believes this is not even true.
I can tell you it's not about fraud. Because if he sent people who understand forensic accounting, we'd be having a different conversation.
But he's sending armed, masked men. This is a pretext. And it's not supported by the facts at all, which has brought us to court challenging the justification that the president has offered. For those watching around the country. I would submit to you that just as Portland and Chicago and L.A. were precursors to Minneapolis, Minneapolis is a precursor to a whole lot of other places that they have their eye on right here, right now, including Maine and several other states.
If we don't stop this behavior here, it will only expand and it won't be good for anyone in our country.
Minnesota stands strong, and I want to join Governor Walz in my -- just pride in being a Minnesotan. No football game victory could ever make me feel as good about our state as I do about people standing up and helping their neighbors, engaging in mutual aid, giving each other rides to different places, making sure that there's enough groceries, protesting, using their First Amendment rights.
This state has a lot of spirit and "Minnesota nice" is a real thing.
I wasn't fortunate enough to be born in Minnesota. I was born and grew up in Michigan. And I can tell you that this state has a lot of nice people. It really does. And a lot of people who believe in taking care of their neighbor and welcoming the stranger. And as we see right now, resisting tyranny.
So I just want to say that as the courage of protesters and others who are helping their neighbors is so evident on the streets of this -- of this great state of ours, we at the attorney general's office and in Minnesota state government can do no less than match the courage you have already shown.
And we will not back down. We won't blink, we won't bow. We will stand firmly on our constitutional rights and in favor of Minnesotans. We will do that in the ballot box at the courts. We will do that in the streets, in a peaceful, legal First Amendment protected way. And we will do it in a multitude of ways. But one thing we will not do is we will not back down and we will not bend.
And so let me wrap up by saying this. We will never forget Alex Pretti. We will never forget Nicole -- I mean, Renee Nicole Good. And we will never forget any of the Minnesotans who have -- who have suffered so unjustifiably in this -- in this time.
Minnesota is a great place. That is why I believe we've been targeted. But it's not going to work and we'll be in court tomorrow arguing for the rights of every Minnesotan to stand up and be the generous, courageous people that we are.
Thank you.
WALZ: Thank you, Attorney General.
We'll be glad to take some questions, folks -- Tom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Walz, you've got a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi making several demands, I guess you would call them, regarding the sanctuary cities, regarding fraud and voter rolls. [14:24:54]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your response to that? Is there anything you can do to meet the Trump administration at least part of the way to try to turn this temperature?
WALZ: Well, first of all, it's not a serious attempt. And, the attorney general is in that. And again, I would thank the local folks and Commissioner Schnell -- thank you to you and your team over there.
In that letter, they talked about, you know, you need to hand people over who are in your jails. They're taking credit for people that we've had in jail for a long time. We always hand them over to the commissioner very clearly.
So they're lying. They're lying.
This has nothing to do with fraud. As the attorney general said, they're not settling -- sending us forensic accountants. And these are things that have been -- we're dealing with now and have been for quite some time.
So, look, it's not a serious attempt to get at this. The way to fix this is, get these folks out of here. We've continued to work with them. They asked us for these numbers. We provided them. We continue to show they're not serious.
And look, I think everybody understands what the last request was. Totally unrelated to anything on the voter files. This is, again, as the attorney general said, Donald Trump telling everybody that the election was rigged, who started all this nightmare for America, has nothing to do with it.
And I just -- I would just give a pro tip to the attorney general. There's 2 million documents in the Epstein files we're still waiting on. Go ahead and work on those.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is for you, Attorney General. If they're not honoring judicial warrants, how can you trust that they're going to be honoring this temporary restraining?
ELLISON: Well, that's a good question. I'm glad you asked it, because, you know, you know, since, Trump 2 began, and even including Trump 1, we filed a lot of lawsuits. We're north of 50 now, and they've been on everything from birthright citizenship to SNAP to things like the National Institute of Health, to EVs, to all kinds, just all kinds of things. And they -- and they've been complying with the orders.
Now, I will say the foot drag we've had to threaten them with contempt a few times. And I'm not saying that the compliance has been good. I am saying that open defiance of court orders is not something that we've experienced.
And so I have every reason to believe that they will obey the court order.
Now, if they don't, we have recourse and we'll pursue that recourse.
On a deeper level, your question. I would simply say this just because they may not do the right thing does not absolve us of the responsibility of doing the right thing.
We're going to seek legal recourse. And if they don't -- and if they disobey a court order, then that's on them. But we're going to seek those orders, and we're going to insist that they be followed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Local sheriffs have said they lack the legal authority to (INAUDIBLE), and that's something that Attorney General Ellison has said as well. They lack the authority to administer the law. Is that an authority you could just give them?
WALZ: Paul, you want to talk about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not prisons, but, you know, county sheriffs and jails?
PAUL SCHNELL, COMMISSIONER, MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: So really, the key issue here is I think most sheriffs in the state do fully honor ICE detainers and provide notification. The issue becomes when they have a lawful reason to be released. Bail released by judicial order. The jail cannot hold that person beyond that point in time.
That's the fundamental issue. There is not a lack of cooperation. There is just some legal boundaries. We've had some conversations with ICE about this. We think that there may be some things that could be worked out, but I don't think that's the core issue that we're really dealing with here.
(CROSSTALKING)
ELLISON: Can I simply say that it puts -- it puts Minnesota in a very difficult position, because if such a person were held beyond a period of time when the -- when the state court has the authority to hold them, then the state court is exposing itself to liability. So ICE just has to show up in and do its job.
WALZ: That's the fundamental question here. And that's the fundamental argument they keep making. We cooperate. We don't do their job.
You saw it this week with rural, conservative Cottonwood County. Sheriff had someone, told them this person's time is done. We can't just hold them indefinitely. It's against the law. So we're going to release this guy. Come and get him.
They're too busy up here doing what they did yesterday to go pick up someone who actually should be removed from this country. And I don't know how many times they try and confuse the people across this country.
WALZ: It's their job to do immigrations and customs enforcement. It's law enforcement's job to do law enforcement in Minnesota. They are not doing immigration enforcement saying we should be doing that while they're apparently now trying to do extrajudicial law enforcement on our streets.
[14:30:06]
So, this is -- this is a red herring. It's untrue. The attorney general of the United States put falsehoods into a letter she sends to me that we are doing what's asked of us, but we're not going to do your job for you. We have other things we need to do to.
REPORTER: Attorney General, how concerned are you getting back to the evidence --
KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Right.
REPORTER: -- that you might not get access to his camera footage, and that you might not get to the bottom of whether he was carrying an ID or not?
ELLISON: I am deeply concerned about the preservation of evidence, which is why we went to court last night. But I have faith in in Judge Tostrud's order that it will be followed and I can -- I can tell you that I -- that Minnesota officials are going to do everything we can to get to the truth.
And again, as a prosecutor, I am not allowed to say what the final outcome is going to be. We have to get the evidence and find out. But if you're asking me, Tom, if I'm concerned, you better believe I am concerned. But look, they've got the order now. Now, they're -- now they're going to defy the court if they don't follow it.
REPORTER: A quick follow up. You met with Vice President Vance when he was in town on Thursday I understand.
ELLISON: I did.
REPORTER: Can you tell us about what the tenor of that meeting was? His goal was to turn down the temperature two days later, and there was this shooting.
ELLISON: Well, I guess it didn't work.
WALZ: Yeah.
ELLISON: I mean, look, here's the thing -- you know, Governor Walz and I were in Congress together for 12 years before both of us were to go serve in state government. We're used to talking to these folks. Why not see if there's something that can be arrived at?
I can tell you that it was a polite meeting. I can also tell you that I walked out of there thinking that we probably weren't going to get anywhere because quite honestly, a few hours late -- not even hours, a few minutes later, he just got up there and just articulated the same talking points he made to me in the meeting.
I tried to -- I tried to correct him. He didn't want to hear that. And so I'm like, well, welcome to Minnesota. Thank you very much. You both and I, both of us have things to do. So, see you later. And I left. It was a cordial enough. But it was -- but it was not fruitful. And
but, look, I -- I just think that. And I'm sure the governor agrees. If you can try to talk to somebody sensibly, we do. But that one didn't get that one did not -- that one didn't get where we had hoped to.
MODERATOR: One more.
REPORTER: Yeah. Lauren (INAUDIBLE) from "The Washington Post".
Do you know if the federal agents were directly around Pretti during the time of the shooting are still out on the street in Twin Cities or anywhere else in Minnesota? Any.
ELLISON: I don't know.
WALZ: Don't know. They don't talk to us. They don't. They don't tell us. They don't.
REPORTER: With the BCA being denied access to the scene after getting a warrant, is there a recourse for them that way? Or do you feel that this restraining order that you obtained requiring the federal government to preserve evidence, is that recourse?
ELLISON: So there are certain legal strategy decisions that I'm not at liberty to just go on about in a meeting like this one. What I can tell you is that that both the warrant and the TRO are evidence of our resolve, and we are going to get to the truth of what happened to Mr. Alex Pretti and to the truth of what happened to Renee Good, and that's what -- that's what we are pledging.
And we're going to use every legal means to do that. So I can't tell you -- I'm not at liberty to tell you what you're asking me, but I am here to assure the public and the who's listening that we are going to -- we are going to get to the truth of this matter, and we won't be deterred, and we won't be denied.
REPORTER: Just a quick one for Jacobson. We did see BCA agents at the shooting scene this morning. Can you confirm what they were doing there?
BOB JACOBSON, COMMISSIONER, MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Absolutely. The question was about whether or not the BCA agents were on the scene of the shooting this morning, and they were, and they were continuing to collect evidence that they've seen. They're also doing some canvassing of the neighborhoods.
I don't want to get any more of the investigative process on this, but, at the BCA, we are going to continue to investigate this shooting based on whatever evidence were able to get. And we appreciate the attorney general assisting us with the temporary restraining order to make sure that the federal government is retaining evidence that will be available. We would assume to us at a later time, but the investigation will not pause. We are continuing to work on anything and everything that we possibly can.
[14:35:00]
ELLISON: I'm -- I'm just going to close -- I'm going to close with one thing that I promised the parents, with Michael and Susan, and I speak to all Americans on this over these last 24 hours. What you saw, you're now knowing more about this young man. Beloved by his family, accomplished ICU nurse, skillful in ability to work with veterans. Someone who's beloved by community, no criminal record, lawful firearms owner. And you know what you saw.
And then you heard the most powerful people in the world, certainly in this country, president, vice president, Greg Bovino, Kristi Noem, narrate to you what you were looking at that this was a domestic terrorist, crazed, running at law enforcement with the intent to kill massive numbers of them, sullying his name within minutes of this event happening, and then closing the crime scene, sweeping away the evidence, defying a court order and not allowing anyone to look at it.
I don't care if you are conservative and you are flying at Donald Trump flag, you're a libertarian. Don't tread on me. You're a Democratic socialist of America. This is an inflection point. America.
If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw -- I don't know what else to tell you. This has to be the moment your government here in Minnesota, I've made it clear, I'm accountable for things that happen here, and I will take responsibility for that. Someone has to be accountable. Someone has to hold the final decision on this.
And sitting behind a keyboard at 2:00 a.m. and besmirching a V.A. nurse and a son and a coworker and a friend is despicable beyond all description. This is not we need to see both sides. This is not we need to wait for this. This is basic human decency.
And at this point in time, I'm just asking. Try for a moment to set aside the political side of it and go back and ground in the humanity of this. This family has gone through enough. And to have the most powerful man in the world drag their dead son with absolutely no evidence and gaslight the entire country.
This is enough. And I would say, President Trump, you can end this today. Pull these folks back. Do humane, focused, effective immigration control. You've got the support of all of us to do that.
Let our law enforcement continue to do what they do, making Minnesota one of the safest states in the country, one of the best places to live. Allow our children to go back to school. We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside.
Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody's going to write that children's story about Minnesota, and there's one person who can end this now, and I -- I'll go back to it again. Please show some decency. Pull these folks out, reset this situation, and allow us to do the job that the attorney general, myself, were elected to do. Protect the people of Minnesota and carry out the laws of Minnesota.
We'll be back with you when we get more information.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BLITZER: All right. So, there we have a -- very, very strong words from the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison. Very, very strong words attacking President Trump and others in the administration for doing what they're doing. Get those ICE agents, he says out of Minnesota. What's the plan, Donald Trump?
And at one point, the governor himself said that, Alex Pretti, who was killed by an ICE agent, as we all know now, know he -- Governor Walz said he spoke with Alex Pretti's family, and he expressed his condolences for a son's murder.
He said the son was murdered. And he then went on, as we just heard, to condemn what these administration officials have been saying, that Alex Pretti was -- and Renee Good, for that matter, the woman who was killed by an ICE agent were domestic terrorists. This is obscene. Then we heard the attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, say the state of Minnesota is now going to go to federal court to seek legal recourse against the Trump administration.
[14:40:08]
And we heard the governor repeatedly say, Mr. Trump, get those ICE agents out of the state because they're causing all sorts of havoc, all sorts of problems.
Very strong words, maybe the strongest words we've heard yet from the governor and the attorney general of Minnesota.
We're now going to hear a very, very different side of all of this. There's more breaking news. We're following the Border Patrol commander at large, Gregory Bovino, and the ICE executive assistant director of enforcement and removal operations, Marcos Charles. They just spoke in Minneapolis themselves.
Listen to this
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER AT LARGE: Good afternoon. My name is Greg Bovino, commander at large for CBP assets here in Minneapolis.
I'd like to take a few moments here before we take questions and before I hear from my colleague, Mr. Marcos Charles, to talk about a subject that I think is very important given the events over the past couple of days, and that topic is the topic of choices. Choices.
Now, choosing or making a choice is one of the only true freedoms that any of us really have is to make a choice, whether that's the choice to be here today as the media, the choice to go to school, join the military, join law enforcement. Making a choice is a freedom that resides within us.
Now, good choices are important in life. As we all know. And many actions that take place are due to our choices the choice to say cross the border illegally. That is a choice that someone makes to cross the border illegally. That's a choice.
The choice not to utilize the CBP home app. That's a choice. Not standing in line and doing it the right way. That is a choice. And there are always actions that result from our choices.
When you choose to use your five-year-old child as a shield to evade law enforcement, that is a choice that someone makes. And there are actions and consequences that result from that choice. Or when you're a politician or a community leader, you make a lot of choices there. Some very important, wide-ranging and in-depth choices. When as a politician, if you choose collusion and corruption as a choice, then there are consequences and actions that take place because of that.
That's one reason the U.S. Border Patrol and ICE are here in Minneapolis by the thousands is because of those choices. When politicians, community leaders and some journalists engage in that heated rhetoric, we keep talking about, they make the choice to vilify law enforcement. Calling law enforcement names like gestapo or using the term kidnapping.
That is a choice that is made. Their actions and consequences that come from those choices. And then when you choose, when someone chooses to listen to a politician, a so-called journalist, a community leader. That spouted that type of vilification towards law enforcement or anything else, when you choose to listen to that, that is a choice and there are consequences and actions there. Also, I think we saw that yesterday.
And those actions and choices can obviously have tragic consequences, bad outcomes, outcomes that law enforcement never wants to see, law enforcement never wants to see a bad consequence due to a poor choice.
Now these choices have reverberations throughout society. Let's take a look at go ahead and put that on the screen, please.
Yesterday, Border Patrol agents were engaged in a targeted law enforcement effort to apprehend this individual here. Mr. Jose Huerta Chuma. Look at his criminal record. Domestic assault, intentional infliction of bodily harm, disorderly conduct. He's also got some other records there as well.
This individual remains at large today.
[14:45:02]
This individual is still roaming the streets today. This is the individual on that targeted law enforcement efforts that Border Patrol agents were engaged in yesterday when they were disrupted, assaulted and prevented from conducting that Title Eight mission by individuals intent on making the choice to riot, to create anarchy, and to be a violent mob. This individual walks the streets today because of those choices made by politicians and those perhaps weaker minded constituents that chose to follow directions of those politicians. Sad state of affairs.
Now, enforcing the law is not a choice. I choose to be a Border Patrol agent, Mr. Marcos Charles chooses to be an ICE agent, but enforcing the law? That's not a choice. That is a duty.
As we all know, those laws were enacted, were enacted by Congress, signed by the executive, and upheld -- and upheld most of the time by the judiciary. Those are the laws of our land. That is our duty to enforce those laws, whether that's a Title Eight immigration law, whether that's chasing a bank robber or a spy or whatever else, that is our duty, whether it's a state and local law enforcement agency, and they make choices. Also, do they support federal law enforcement going after Mr. Jose Huerta Chuma or do they not?
We all make choices. Our Title Eight immigration mission continues. Next slide. Our Title Eight immigration mission continues unabated here in Minneapolis despite yesterday's tragedy that was preventable by folks making better choices. Politicians, journalists and would-be anarchists and rioters.
This individual from Laos was apprehended within the past 24 hours. This operation continues unabated. This is evidence of that. We will continue to make these streets a safer place.
It is our duty because we choose to be Border Patrol agents and ICE agents, to take individuals like that off the streets so we can make Minneapolis and America a safer place.
Thank you.
REPORTER: Was Huerta Chuma, by the way, was in federal immigration --
BOVINO: Hold on questions until the end. Mr. Marcos Charles will talk and we'll take questions at the end, ma'am. Thank you.
MARCOS CHARLES, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ICE ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL OPERATIONS: Good afternoon. I know Commander Bovino spoke about yesterday's incident in the situation. But I also want to draw your attention to the continued uptick in violence we're seeing against federal law enforcement officials. Not just here, but across the country.
Yesterday here in Minneapolis, a crowd of violent agitators tackled an ICE special agent when one of our special response teams went to assist a protester literally bit off part of that agent's finger. The officer received immediate medical attention on the scene and was transported to the emergency room for treatment. We do want to thank the people at the hospital for the assistance and the staff who treated our officer. The officer is recovering but is now permanently maimed and has lost part of his finger.
I don't think I have to tell you that this kind of violence is unacceptable, but I also don\t think I need to tell you that this kind of violence is not a coincidence. When sanctuary politicians, activists and the media work hard to create chaos and fear instead of using their platforms to reassure their communities, this is the result.
The reality is, and this is what Commander Bovino and I have been talking about all week, we're out here to arrest dangerous criminal illegal aliens so they can't victimize innocent people in our communities anymore. Since the beginning of this operation, we've arrested three -- over 3,400 illegal aliens removing criminals, gang members and terrorists out of Minnesota communities detaining them in ICE custody for removal from the country.
Those are criminals who won't reoffend in our communities. Those are criminals who won't be creating more victims. That could be one of your family members or loved ones.
[14:50:01]
Some of these criminals that we arrested yesterday are on the scene or, well, these are our agitators from yesterday. If anybody wants to take a picture of these people or haven't seen them yet, the first picture was the individual who decided to bite off one of our agents fingers.
Some of the criminals we arrested yesterday 40-old criminal illegal alien from Honduras convicted of assault 51-year-old criminal. Illegal alien from Laos, convicted of assault. Also, a 45-year-old criminal. Illegal alien from the Ukraine. Convicted of first degree robbery and a 46-year-old criminal. Illegal alien from Laos who was convicted of facilitating child sex crime. Ice officers and agents are out there every day arresting the worst of the worst. So, law abiding citizens in this country and in Minnesota can sleep easy at night. This work isn't about headlines. It's about public safety.
Now take some questions.
(CROSSTALK)
REPORTER: Commander Bovino --
REPORTER: -- previously in federal immigration custody in 2018 at a jail in Minnesota and then was released under the Trump administration again in 2018. You talk about choice. That was also a choice to release this this individual, the man that you were targeting, obviously, to detain him. So, if he was released in 2018 from federal immigration custody, why would that be the case? Why was that choice made?
BOVINO: Yeah. I don't know the particular case in 2018 that you're talking about, but this, this individual that we want to put that back up there, please. That individual is now an illegal alien. It's my mission to find this illegal alien before he harms another American citizen and does harm. That's what I'm after there.
And we can go back and look and blame in history. Right now, my mission is to take this individual off the street. And the main point here being is this individual is in the process of being taken into custody. Agitators, rioters and anarchists prevented us from taking this individual into custody because of a very, very chaotic, chaotic scene. This individual should be in custody right now, not out on the streets preying on Americans that -- that is the story that is most poignant here.
(CROSSTALK)
REPORTER: That multiple videos shooting from yesterday. And at no point is he seeing Brandon --
BOVINO: I'm sorry. Repeat that please.
REPORTER: We have seen multiple videos from the incident yesterday today from different angles and at no point do we see Alex Pretti brandishing a weapon. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that he was brandishing a weapon. And in the video, we see him on the ground with his hands on his head. We see an officer leaving what appears to be with the weapon after he extracted it from Pretti's waist area.
Did the officers see the -- did they see him brandishing the weapon at him?
BOVINO: Sure. Many videos out there. Many different accounts that you may see that I may see that anybody here may see that, folks, is why we have something called an investigation to take what you're talking about, to take those videos, to take witness statements, to take officer statements, all those minute details that will paint a true picture, not a freeze frame -- not a freeze frame, not a freeze frame concept.
And paint a larger picture of what really happened. That is why we investigate so we can get to the truth. So there's not speculation. Speculation after 24 hours, you've got a lot of speculation in there that officer. Let's think of what those agents were doing on that scene, making a split-second decision. You've had 24 hours to try and armchair quarterback things. That agent had a split second to make a decision.
(CROSSTALK)
BOVINO: Who's -- who's next?
REPORTER: CNN right here.
REPORTER: Commander, was Alex Pretti armed when he was shot?
BOVINO: Again, the investigation is going to uncover all those facts. Things like how many shots were fired, where were the weapons located? All those facts are going to come out in the investigation. I wasn't there wrestling that assault of subject that was assaulting border patrol agents. I wasn't there wrestling him myself.
So I'm not going to speculate. I'm going to wait for that investigation to come. No, don't interrupt me. I'm going to wait until that investigation comes out, until I make a decision there. REPORTER: If there's an investigation going on and you have not
concluded, isn't it possible this was a bad shooting? Or have you already concluded for yourself that this was justified?
BOVINO: I've not concluded anything. I've not given you a conclusion. But what I do -- what I do know --
REPORTER: So, it's possibility it's a bad shooting.
BOVINO: What I do know is this individual was on that scene several minutes before that shooting, interfering with a lawful, legal, ethical law enforcement operation to arrest Jose Huerta Chuma. And again, it's back to choices. We just talked about choices. When someone makes the choice to come into an active law enforcement scene interfere, obstruct, delay or assault law enforcement and they bring a weapon to do that, that is a that is a choice that that individual made.
(CROSSTALK)
REPORTER: Concealed carry permit.
REPORTER: Commander Bovino, when it comes to the shooting, from what I understand, there were two agents who fired shots. We know one of the agents had eight years experience, and we know he was a less lethal instructor and had this training. What did the other agent, what was his history? And are they both working right now or are they on administrative leave?
BOVINO: All agents that were involved in that scene are working not in Minneapolis, but in other locations. That's for their safety. There's this thing called doxing, and the safety of our employees is very important to us. So, we're going to keep those employees safe.
As far as the number of shots, the number of agents involved, that, again, is going to come out in the investigation. I'm not going to speculate on who did what when they did it, how they did it, or what exactly occurred there. I'm going to wait for the investigation to let me know --
REPORTER: But we did say that one of them did have eight years of experience. So, we are talking about one of the agents. Why not talk about the other who shot as well?
BOVINO: Because before those facts come out, we need to ensure that were talking truthfully and accurately. And before I speculate, I'm going to talk truthfully -- truthfully and accurately
(CROSSTALK)
REPORTER: Between your agency, Border Patrol and Mr. Charles, your agency, ICE, we've now seen two separate people shot and killed by your officers within 17 days. Do either of you plan on taking any accountability for those actions?
BOVINO: Two suspects are -- you're correct. Two suspects have been shot and suspects that assault, delay, obstruct or threaten a law enforcement officers life. It goes back to the choices that we just talked about when individuals make poor choices, poor decisions come into law enforcement situation. An active law enforcement situation conspire to come into that situation, whether that's based on ideology, we don't know. That'll be in the investigation that we just talked about.
That's what we base the split-second decisions on. And our law enforcement officers are safe. They manage -- don't, hold on. They manage to come home at the end of shift. And, you know, again, I would implore upon any individuals, whether they're anarchists, rioters, or anyone else that thinks it wise to go into a law enforcement scene to disrupt, to delay is to don't do that.
Think about think -- let's think about that in terms of, say, a bank robbery is in progress and the police are taking care of that. And then you decide to go in there and perhaps take action. That's not a good idea in any form or fashion. The same thing with Title Eight, same thing with Title Eight enforcement. We are after an individual with a very serious criminal record. We don't need any help.
(CROSSTALK)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Okay, you've been listening there to ICE and Border Patrol officials. That is Gregory Bovino who you were just listening to.
Minnesota elected officials, including Governor Tim Walz, also have been discussing the ongoing investigation into the death of Alex Pretti.
Now, it's worth noting that just there -- there was no answer. He could not say. He would not say if Alex Pretti was brandishing a weapon at federal agents, as they have said he has. If they have evidence of that, or if he was armed when he was shot fatally by those agents, they have not provided any evidence of that either, only that he would say the mission continues there in Minneapolis, and that all agents are still working that were that were participating in that.
And he kept going back to the investigation. There are still a lot of questions about that investigation. And if local officials who have now sued the federal government because they said that they were tampering with the scene, will be involved in that investigation.
I want to go out to Sara Sidner, who is standing by there in Minneapolis who was also listening to all of that.
Sara, I know you've got some of our colleagues with you as well. Also worth noting from Gregory Bovino there. It seems like the line he's drawing is that there are consequences to decisions, and that those consequences could be death, as it was yesterday.
Sara, I'll let you take it from there.
SIDNER: Yeah. Those are consequences that people here look at and say, how dare you?
