Major Minneapolis Update: The Dam Breaks as Democrats Uniformly Reject ICE Funding and Trump Privately Defends ICE Agent

Good evening everyone. As promised, I am bringing you round-the-clock coverage of the news you may have missed today. Tonight’s update once again centers on Minnesota, where deeply disturbing new details have emerged about the horrific shooting we witnessed this morning. At the same time, the political fallout is accelerating. A government shutdown now appears increasingly likely as Democrats reject further ICE funding and even some Republicans are beginning to break with Trump in the wake of this killing.

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We are at an inflection point in this country. As a journalist, I refuse to sanitize this moment or pretend it is normal. And I refuse to call what happened today in Minnesota anything other than what it was: murder. Here’s what you missed:

  • Alex Pretti, 37, the man fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis, was an ICU nurse who worked at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, served veterans, participated in protests over immigration enforcement, was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry, had no serious criminal history, and was described by family and neighbors as a gentle, community-minded person who deeply cared about others.
  • According to CNN reporting, President Donald Trump has privately defended the Border Patrol agent who fatally shot a man in Minnesota that the Department of Homeland Security says was armed, with internal White House discussions focusing in part on why the man was carrying multiple magazines and the president emphasizing the circumstances that brought agents to the scene, even as public details remain limited.
  • The dam is breaking. Following the horrific Minneapolis shooting, several Democratic Senators have come out against voting for an upcoming appropriations bill that provides additional funding to ICE. Senators, including Catherine Cortez Masto, Jacky Rosen, and Mark Warner, would have likely voted for the bill before today. Now, the Department of Homeland Security is barreling toward a government shutdown because Republicans do not have the votes.
  • Senator Rosen:
  • Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the incident appears to involve an individual who came to the scene intending to inflict maximum harm on others and kill law enforcement. Based on the videos, she is lying:
  • Noem went on to claim that the victim was engaged in “domestic terrorism”
  • Governor Tim Walz activated the National Guard in response to the shooting:
  • Senator Amy Klobuchar: Our message is really clear and straightforward. We need ICE out of Minnesota.
  • Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey requested assistance from the Minnesota National Guard to support local police amid unrest following a fatal shooting by federal agents, with Guard members set to wear neon reflective vests to be clearly identifiable.
  • Frey said the city will ask a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to halt federal immigration operations, calling them harmful and linked to multiple shootings and deaths, while also requesting National Guard assistance as protests continue.
  • Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he will go to court Monday to try to remove ICE and Border Patrol from the state, calling the federal immigration enforcement presence an illegal and unconstitutional occupation and linking it to recent violence including the fatal shooting; he did not detail the specific legal arguments he will use.
  • U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that multiple federal agencies, including the DEA, ATF, and FBI, are being deployed to support Department of Homeland Security operations in Minneapolis after the fatal shooting by federal agents, increasing the federal law enforcement presence following the incident.
  • Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said state and local agencies will continue investigating the fatal shooting but expressed that full evidence access is difficult without cooperation, and noted that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — not the FBI — is leading the federal investigation into the incident.
  • The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said it is “deeply concerned” about the fatal shooting of a legally armed individual by a federal Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis, emphasizing that peaceable Minnesotans’ Second Amendment rights must be respected and calling for those rights to be protected in the incident.
  • Right wing influencers, like Tim Pool, have come out against the Administration:
  • Protester in Minnesota: I’m 70 years old and I’m fucking angry *disappears into gas*
  • The top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee calls for the impeachment of Kristi Noem.

See you soon.

— Aaron

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