State law enforcement in Minnesota just got completely shut down by the FBI, which is refusing to hand over any evidence in the investigation into the death of Alex Pretti, as reported by The Guardian. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which is the state-level agency handling the criminal investigation, confirmed that the FBI formally notified them it would not share any information or evidence related to the shooting.
This is a huge mess, and it sparked immediate outrage from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. He is demanding an impartial investigation into the recent shootings in Minneapolis. “Trump’s left hand cannot investigate his right hand,” he stated bluntly, reacting to the FBI’s refusal. He stressed that “The families of the deceased deserve better.”
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans expressed his intense frustration over the situation. He emphasized that the BCA is committed to thorough, independent, and transparent investigations, even if they are “hampered by a lack of access to key information and evidence.” Evans added that the agency remains committed to conducting a joint investigation and plans to “continue to pursue all legal avenues to gain access to relevant information and evidence.”
This lack of cooperation is definitely concerning and absolutely unprecedented in state-federal investigations like this
The FBI has previously refused to share information related to the shootings of Renee Good and Julio C Sosa-Celis as well. The lack of access was so severe in the Good case that the BCA was forced to stop its investigation into the killing entirely. Back in January, the BCA made it clear that full access to witnesses and evidence is necessary to meet the investigative standards required by Minnesota law, stating, “without it, we cannot do so.”
These violent incidents are happening amid “Operation Metro Surge,” an aggressive roundup of immigrants launched by the Trump administration in December. Federal officials were deployed to the Minneapolis area for this surge of immigration enforcement operations, resulting in a series of violent incidents involving masked officials arresting people they claim to suspect lack proper residency documentation.
The shooting of Alex Pretti occurred on January 24, when he was killed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials. Pretti, a US citizen, was a nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs and was reportedly observing immigration enforcement operations when he was shot.
His death followed two other high-profile incidents during the federal enforcement surge. Renee Good, also a US citizen and an observer in Minneapolis, was shot in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer just two weeks before Pretti’s killing. While Homeland Security officials initially claimed Good, who was 37, was “weaponizing” her vehicle, local officials have disputed those serious accusations.
Video footage of both the Pretti and Good shootings has circulated widely, leading to mass protests in the city.
Published: Feb 17, 2026 10:30 am