Democrats Intend To Shutdown Government To Defend Illegal Immigration Against ICE

[United States Senate - The Office of Mazie Hirono, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]

The fatal shooting by federal agents of an activist who carried a gun while disrupting ICE officials in the line of duty has forced Democrats to shut down the government again. The incident intensified an already volatile standoff between the Trump administration and Democratic leaders over immigration enforcement, with sharply divergent accounts emerging within hours of the incident.

U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti during an encounter amid ongoing protests in the city. Pretti, described in reports as an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, held a legal permit to carry a firearm, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, according to Politico.

Federal officials portrayed the encounter as a life-or-death confrontation. U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino told reporters that the individual “approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a nine millimeter semi-automatic handgun. The agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, a border patrol agent fired defensive shots.” Bovino further claimed the incident involved “an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” while noting the matter remained under investigation and declining to specify when or if the weapon was drawn.

Trump administration officials moved quickly to frame the shooting as a thwarted attack. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote on Twitter, “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists,” a reference to a Democratic National Committee statement calling for ICE to leave Minnesota. President Donald Trump, posting on Truth Social, labeled the deceased a “gunman,” accused Minnesota Democrats of a “cover-up,” and claimed state leaders were “inciting Insurrection,” singling out Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

The Department of Homeland Security echoed that message on Twitter, stating that “the officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted.”

Democratic officials condemned the shooting and, like their radical base, seemed to pour fuel on the fire in hopes of violence. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota posted, “This appears to be an execution by immigration enforcement. I am absolutely heartbroken, horrified, and appalled that federal agents murdered another member of our community.”

The shooting follows weeks of unrest in Minneapolis after another fatal encounter earlier this month, when a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, was killed by federal agents after she struck an officer with her car as she evaded arrest. The Justice Department has since issued subpoenas to several Minnesota Democratic leaders, including Walz, who dismissed them as a “partisan distraction.”

Vice President JD Vance blamed local leadership for escalating tensions, writing on Twitter that during his visit to Minnesota, “what the ICE agents wanted more than anything was to work with local law enforcement so that situations on the ground didn’t get out of hand. The local leadership in Minnesota has so far refused to answer those requests.”

https://x.com/JDVance/status/2015145433094402467

Schumer has said he intends to shut down the government in an effort to “rein in” the deportation of illegal immigrants.

As investigations continue and protests persist, the Minneapolis shooting has become another flashpoint in a national struggle over immigration enforcement, federal authority, and the limits of political trust.

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