'Heartbreaking Tragedy': Barack Obama Slams Trump Administration as Video Contradicts Claims in Deadly ICE Shooting
Former President Barack Obama condemned the fatal shooting in Minneapolis.
Jan. 25 2026, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Former President Barack Obama has condemned the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis intensive care nurse by a Border Patrol agent, calling it a "heartbreaking tragedy" and warning that "many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault," RadarOnline.com can report.
Labeling the incident "a wake-up call to every American," Obama and his wife urged the Trump administration to work with state and local leaders "to avert more chaos and achieve legitimate law enforcement goals."
Obama's Statement
Obama warned that 'many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.'
"Federal law enforcement and immigration agents have a tough job. But Americans expect them to carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way, and to work with, rather than against, state and local officials to ensure public safety," Obama wrote.
"That's not what we're seeing in Minnesota. In fact, we're seeing the opposite. For weeks now, 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, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city.
Obama joined local leaders and Democrats nationwide in demanding that federal immigration officers withdraw from Minnesota following the shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, which sparked protests in Minneapolis, a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.
Ongoing Legal Battle
The shooting sparked protests in Minneapolis.
The killing has also triggered a legal battle over who controls the investigation amid a surge of federal immigration activity in the region.
Video recorded by bystanders and reviewed by The Associated Press appears to contradict claims from the Trump administration that agents fired "defensively" as Pretti approached them Saturday morning. The footage shows Pretti holding only a phone as he steps between an immigration agent and a woman on the street. No video shows him with a weapon at that moment.
During the struggle, agents appear to disarm Pretti after discovering he was carrying a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and then opened fire several times. Pretti was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
Kristi Noem Responds
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Pretti's family said they were 'heartbroken but also very angry.'
In the hours following the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti attacked officers, and U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said he wanted to "massacre law enforcement." On X, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti "a would-be assassin."
Pretti's family rejected those characterizations, saying they were "heartbroken but also very angry" and describing him as a kindhearted person who wanted to make a difference.
"The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand, and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper-sprayed," the family said. "Please get the truth out about our son."
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to preserve all evidence related to the shooting after state and county officials filed suit.
