A protester （right）speaks to a Minnesota State Patrol officer near the site of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis , Minnesota on January 24, 2026. Photo: VCG

Authorities confirmed US local time Saturday that the man shot dead by US federal agents earlier in the morning in Minneapolis, Minnesota was a US citizen, marking a third shooting involving federal law enforcement officers in the city this month, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday morning.

According to the CNN, the man has been identified as Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old who sources say worked as an ICU nurse. Police said he's believed to have been a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.

According to CNN, the DHS claimed earlier that Border Patrol officers attempted to disarm an armed man who had approached them, and an agent fired defensive shots when the man "violently resisted."

However, USA Today reported on local time Saturday that in videos, Alex Pretti does not appear to wield a gun prior to being shot and killed by federal officers.

New York Times also reported that but footage shows Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has claimed the agent killed Pretti in so-called self-defense — a narrative Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called "nonsense" and "lies." During the Trump administration's sweeping immigration crackdown, DHS statements have at times been contradicted by bystander video and questioned in courts, the CNN reported.

Xinhua reported that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey asked at a news conference that "How many more lives need to be lost before this administration realizes that a political and partisan narrative is not as important as American values?"

Witnesses were quoted as saying by local media that the man was struck multiple times in the chest before being transported to a nearby hospital, Xinhua reported.

Walz said on X that he "just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning." "Minnesota has had it. This is sickening," said the governor. "The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now."

Following the fatal shooting, Walz authorized the activation of the Minnesota National Guard to assist local law enforcement at the request of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.

"The state has the personnel to keep people safe - federal agents must not obstruct our ability to do so," said Walz.

President Trump in a post on Truth Social accused that the Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!

Anti-ICE protesters were already marching in Minneapolis on Saturday local time despite frigid temperatures. Authorities used tear gas and flash bangs to disperse an angry crowd confronting agents after the shooting, the CNN updated.

A federal agent had his finger bitten off by a protester in Minneapolis during the aftermath of Saturday's deadly shooting, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed.

"About hundreds of protesters then showed up at the scene. They began to obstruct and to assault law enforcement officers," Noem said at a news conference while describing the scene after the shooting, CNN reported. "We saw objects being thrown at them, including ice and other objects and a rampant assault began, and even an HSI officer - agent's finger was bitten off."

This incident marks the third shooting involving federal law enforcement officers in the city this month. The first occurred on January 7, when 37-year-old US citizen Renee Good was fatally shot by a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. On January 14, an ICE agent shot a Venezuelan national in the leg during an attempted arrest, according to the DHS, Xinhua reported.

Global Times