AFL-CIO urges ICE to leave Minnesota after federal agent shot Alex Pretti

Businessinsider reports that the AFL-CIO, America's largest network of labor unions, called on ICE to leave Minnesota before "anyone else is hurt or killed" after a federal agent shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. The union called Pretti's death "senseless" and demanded a "full, transparent investigation" that will lead to accountability and for Congress to hold ICE accountable, its statement said.

Minneapolis police confirmed Pretti was a US citizen and that he worked as an ICU nurse at a US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital; they said he had a permit to carry the handgun. The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was carrying a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and "approached" agents and resisted when officers tried to disarm him, but multiple videos show he is never seen threatening agents and is disarmed and subdued before he is shot.

The shootings occurred amid Operation Metro Surge, a December immigration-enforcement sweep in which DHS says it deployed about 2,000 federal agents across Minnesota to detain and deport people in the country unlawfully. Residents and business leaders have criticized the tactics and staged protests, and tensions rose after a federal agent shot and killed Renee Good on January 7.

Key Topics

Politics, Afl-cio, Ice, Alex Pretti, Operation Metro Surge, Minneapolis