Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has wasted no time labeling a Minneapolis nurse killed by federal agents a violent extremist, insisting he intended to kill law enforcement officers without providing evidence to support her claim.
Speaking publicly after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, during a federal immigration operation on Saturday, Noem repeatedly branded him a “domestic terrorist.”
“This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism. That’s the facts,” she said at a news conference.
“This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
Noem also blamed Minnesota officials, singling out Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing them of enabling “lawlessness.”
Noem’s language closely tracked rhetoric pushed earlier in the day by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who wrote on X: “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.”
A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists. https://t.co/UCFCE5p5J1
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) January 24, 2026
Federal officials have characterized Pretti as armed and combative, saying agents fired “defensive shots” after he approached them with a weapon and resisted attempts to disarm him.
But multiple bystander videos appear to tell a different story, appearing to show Pretti holding a phone—not a weapon—in the moments before he was tackled and shot multiple times.
What’s missing is who Pretti was.
Pretti was a U.S. citizen and an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Relatives and police said he had no criminal record and legally owned a firearm under Minnesota law.
His family told the Associated Press that he cared deeply about people, had been troubled by President Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city, and had joined protests following the death of Renee Good, another 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by a federal immigration officer earlier this month.
“[H]e was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” his father, Michael Pretti, told AP.
“He thought it was terrible… kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”
As federal officials hardened their public narrative, scrutiny has mounted elsewhere.
Within hours of the shooting, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, formally requested a full committee hearing with top immigration officials, according to The New York Times. It’s a rare oversight move from a party that has largely backed the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The shooting has also fueled legal and political fallout. The New York Times reported that several Twin Cities suburbs filed a brief asking a federal judge to rein in how immigration agents conduct enforcement actions, aligning themselves with a broader lawsuit brought by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul challenging the legality of the ICE surge. The case is set to return to court on Monday.
Protests have continued despite subzero temperatures, with demonstrators in Minneapolis, and in other cities, calling the shooting a turning point.
For now, Noem and other administration officials have declared the facts settled. Investigators, lawmakers, judges—and Pretti’s family—are still waiting to see the evidence.
The Daily Beast has contacted DHS for comment.
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