The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti has sparked public outrage and renewed scrutiny of the administration’s immigration strategy|Chad Davis|CC BY 4.0

President Donald Trump moved to ease tensions in Minneapolis on Monday following the fatal shooting of US citizen Alex Pretti by federal agents, marking the second killing involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

He announced on Truth Social that he would be sending border czar Tom Homan to the city.

Later the same day, Trump spoke on the phone with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and said that he would consider reducing the number of federal immigration agents deployed in the state, acknowledging that the current situation cannot continue.

His softer tone comes amid growing pressure from Democrats, business leaders, and some Republicans to scale back aggressive enforcement tactics.

Meanwhile, Gregory Bovino was removed from his role as commander-at-large of the Border Patrol and reassigned to his previous post in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon.

The shooting of Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse who was working at the city’s VA hospital, comes 18 days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good. The fatal killing sparked public outrage and renewed scrutiny of the administration’s immigration strategy.

Investigation underway
In an initial post on X, the Department of Homeland Security said an individual approached US Border Patrol officers armed with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and violently resisted when officers attempted to disarm the suspect. But eyewitness videos circulating online appear to challenge that account, intensifying public criticism.

Federal officials say all available evidence will be reviewed.

Public opinion has turned sharply. Polls show growing discomfort with aggressive immigration tactics, especially among independents.

TikTok users struggle to upload videos
After the killing, people faced issues uploading protest videos on TikTok. Comedian Megan Stalter urged Christians to oppose ICE on Instagram, but her video wouldn’t post, leading her to delete her account. 

TikTok blamed a US data center outage, yet users grew concerned about censorship after the platform shifted to American ownership.

Lawmakers from both parties have called for investigations, while advisers urged Trump to de-escalate. The administration now faces mounting pressure to balance enforcement with accountability and public trust.