The city of Minneapolis was already on edge after the killing of a 37-year-old woman by a federal immigration agent earlier this month. Then, on Saturday, came the news many had been dreading. Another shooting. And another US civilian dead.
Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was also 37, died of multiple gunshot wounds after an altercation with Border Patrol agents at a busy intersection in the south of the city. Minneapolis was once again convulsed with demonstrations by angry citizens.
Within hours, the war of words that had been raging for weeks between local officials and the federal government escalated with fresh intensity. Border Patrol said the man had approached officers with a handgun and “violently resisted” attempts to disarm him.