OBAMA: RESIST

Obama condemns Trump for escalating situation in Minneapolis and for the murder of Alex Pretti

Buck Williams

Jan 26, 2026

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Barack Obama issues rare political statement condemning DHS over Alex Pretti shooting — as Dems rally against Trump admin

Alex Oliveira

Published Jan. 25, 2026, 1:53 p.m. ET

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz blasts federal government over ICE shooting in Minneapolis: ‘It’s a campaign of organized brutality’

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Former President Barack Obama directly condemned President Trump for the death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis — saying “this has to stop” and accusing his successor of being “eager to escalate the situation” — in a rare overt criticism of the current administration.

“The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy,” Obama said in a statement posted to X on Sunday. “It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.”

“People across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, and provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,” the former president wrote.

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Alex Pretti seen filming ICE agents at a protest before he was fatally shot. — 4

Alex Pretti (second from right) filming ICE agents at a protest before he was fatally shot.AP

A federal agent drawing his gun before shooting Pretti.

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Obama’s statement came a day after protester Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot dead by Border Patrol agents in a hail of bullets on a Minneapolis street.

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Pretti was allegedly carrying a loaded firearm when he put himself between the feds and a woman they were pepper-spraying. Agents were attempting to arrest him and pulled the gun from his belt, then they fired a burst of about 10 shots at him.

Pretti was an ICU nurse at a Minneapolis VA hospital.via REUTERS

Obama went on to concede that immigration agents have a “tough job,” but accused the Trump admin of encouraging lawless tactics among agents.

“The President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanation for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation — and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence,” Obama wrote.

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His statement was the first he’s made on the Minneapolis chaos that was sparked earlier in January when ICE agents killed American Renee Good, who appeared to be blocking immigration officers with her car when she drove forward and nearly hit an agent who then opened fire and killed her.

A mourner visiting a memorial for Pretti near the scene of where he was killed. — 4

A mourner visiting a memorial for Pretti near the scene where he was killed.AFP via Getty Images

Trump has been vocal about blaming Democratic leaders for the tensions in Minneapolis since Good was killed on Jan. 7. The White House claimed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — who notably told ICE to “get the f–k out” of the city in a fiery speech — were encouraging protesters to violently take to the streets.

And he doubled down on that stance soon after Pretti was killed on Saturday.

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“The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Follow The Post’s coverage of the shooting of a 37-year-old anti-ICE protester in Minneapolis

Trump’s administration quickly followed suit, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem calling Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” while Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino told CNN “the victims are the Border Patrol agents” because Pretti “put himself in that situation.”

Prominent Democrats have not been quiet about their feelings of outrage toward the ICE and Border Patrol operations in Minnesota — with the likes of US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) saying federal agents committed “another murder” and were “executing our residents.”

“ICE and CBP must leave Minnesota immediately. Kristi Noem must be impeached. Enough,” Omar wrote on X Saturday.

What do you think? Post a comment.

Walz fired off a series of tweets Saturday that called the federal agents in the city an “occupation.”

“Trump needs to pull his 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another American in the street,” the governor wrote.

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