DEMOCRATS are demanding federal immigration officers leave the American state of Minnesota after a US Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis and set off clashes with protesters who poured into the frigid streets in a city already shaken by another shooting death weeks earlier.
The latest shooting has also sparked a legal fight over control of the investigation and renewed calls by state and city officials for an end to the immigration surge that has swept across Minneapolis and surrounding cities.
Federal officials said agents were acting in self-defence by opening fire on Saturday morning, local time, when Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, stepped into a confrontation between an immigration officer and a woman on the street.
Officials said Mr Pretti was armed, but no bystander videos appear to show him holding a weapon. The Minneapolis police chief said Mr Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.
Mr Pretti’s family said they were “heartbroken but also very angry” at authorities, saying in a statement that Mr Pretti a kind-hearted person who wanted to make a difference in the world.
A woman holding a protest sign saying “It was murder. Stop ICE”.
Protests are being held across the US after a second fatal shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis. (AP: Caroline Brehman)
A federal judge has already issued an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to the shooting, after state and county officials sued.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the lawsuit filed on Saturday is meant to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday in federal court in St Paul.
“A full, impartial, and transparent investigation into his fatal shooting at the hands of DHS agents is non-negotiable,” Mr Ellison said in a statement.
Spokespersons for the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which are named in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment from the Associated Press.
Another federal judge previously ruled that officers participating in the federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, though an appeals court temporarily suspended that ruling days before Saturday’s shooting.
The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police at the direction of Governor Tim Walz, officials said, with troops sent to both the shooting site and a federal building where officers have squared off daily with demonstrators.
A man with backpack and hiking boots, poses by some trees with one knee on the ground.
The death of 37-year-old US citizen Alex Pretti has prompted a fierce political debate and further protests in an already tense city. This is what we know about the situation so far.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference that Mr Pretti showed up to “impede a law enforcement operation”.
She questioned why he was armed but did not offer details about whether Mr Pretti drew the weapon or brandished it at officers.
But gun rights groups have noted it is legal to carry firearms during protests.
“These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”