On January 24, 2026, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, was shot and killed by two Customs and Border Protection officers in Minneapolis during protests against Operation Metro Surge and the earlier killing of Renée Good. Pretti, who was legally licensed to carry a handgun, was filming agents and directing traffic when he intervened between an agent and a woman, leading to him being pepper-sprayed, tackled, and shot at least ten times within five seconds. Verified bystander video reviewed by multiple news outlets showed he was holding a cell phone, not a gun, and that an agent removed a firearm from his holster just before the shooting. The Trump administration initially claimed without evidence that Pretti was a domestic terrorist, a statement contradicted by video and witness testimony, which provoked widespread criticism from Republicans and gun rights groups like the NRA and Gun Owners of America. The killing accelerated local and national protests against immigration enforcement, while state investigators were denied access to the shooting scene by the federal government.