Federal and state officials both claim moral high ground in immigration crackdown after shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — In dueling news conferences, federal and state officials offered starkly different messages Sunday about the immigration crackdown that has swept across Minneapolis and surrounding cities, with both claiming the moral high ground after another shooting death by federal agents.

“Which side do you want to be on?" Gov. Tim Walz asked the public. "The side of an all-powerful federal government that could kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the streets, or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such government?” — a reference to Saturday's shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

In a federal office building about 20 miles (32 kilometers) away, Border Patrol senior official Greg Bovino, the public face of the crackdown, again blamed the shooting on Pretti.

“When someone makes the choice to come into an active law enforcement scene, interfere, obstruct, delay or assault law enforcement officer and — and they bring a weapon to do that. That is a choice that that individual made,” he told reporters.

The competing comments emerged as local leaders and Democrats across the country demanded federal immigration officers leave Minnesota after Pretti's shooting, which set off clashes with protesters in a city already shaken by another shooting death weeks earlier.

Video shot by bystanders and reviewed by The Associated Press appears to contradict statements by President Donald Trump’s administration, which said agents fired “defensively” against Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, as he approached them.

Pretti can be seen with only a phone in his hand as he steps between an immigration agent and a woman on the street. No footage appears to show him with a weapon. During the scuffle, agents appear to disarm him after discovering he is carrying a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, and then open fire several times. Pretti was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

In the hours after the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti attacked officers, and Bovino said he wanted to “massacre law enforcement.”

Bovino was more restrained Sunday, saying he would not speculate about the shooting and that he planned to wait for the investigation.

Pretti’s family said they were “heartbroken but also very angry” at authorities. Relatives were furious at federal officials’ description of the shooting.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand, and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” the family statement said. “Please get the truth out about our son.”

A 2024 video posted to social media showed Pretti reading a salute for veteran Terrance Lee Randolph, who died at the VA hospital where Pretti worked.

“Today we remember that freedom is not free,” Pretti, wearing navy blue scrubs, says in the video. “We have to work for it, nurture it, protect it, and even sacrifice for it.”

Walz denounced as “despicable beyond all description” the comments that federal officials made about Pretti.

"And I would say, President Trump, you can end this today. Pull these folks back. Do humane, focused, effective immigration control,” he said.

The White House kept up its attacks on the governor, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt posting on X that Walz "does NOT believe in law and order” and accusing him of encouraging “left-wing agitators to stalk and record federal officers in the middle of lawful operations.”

At the federal news conference, Marcos Charles of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said one of their agents permanently lost a part of his finger when a protester bit it off Saturday in Minneapolis.

“This kind of violence is not a coincidence,” Charles said. “When sanctuary politicians, activists and the media work hard to create chaos and fear instead of using their platforms to reassure their communities, this is the result.”

Pretti was shot just over a mile from where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7, sparking widespread protests.

Federal officials, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, have thwarted local attempts to participate.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which investigates police shootings, told reporters Saturday that federal officers had blocked his agency from the scene of the shooting even after it obtained a signed judicial warrant. Bureau officers were working at the scene Sunday morning.

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 Saturday is meant to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A hearing is scheduled for Monday in federal court in St. Paul.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the lawsuit, saying claims that the federal government would destroy evidence are “a ridiculous attempt to divide the American people and distract from the fact that our law enforcement officers were attacked — and their lives were threatened.”

The Minnesota National Guard temporarily assisted local police at Walz's direction, officials said, with troops sent to the shooting site and a federal building where officers have squared off daily with demonstrators.

But Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Sunday morning on CBS' "Face the Nation" that “it’s back to just the Minneapolis police responding to calls.”

O'Hara said he had seen no evidence that Pretti brandished the pistol, and that the crackdown was exhausting his department.

“This is taking an enormous toll, trying to manage all this chaos on top of having to be the police department for a major city. It’s too much,” he said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was among several Democratic lawmakers demanding that federal immigration authorities leave Minnesota.

In a statement, former President Barack Obama called Pretti’s death a “heartbreaking tragedy” and warned that “many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.”

Federal officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly questioned why Pretti was armed during the confrontation. But gun rights groups noted that it's legal to carry firearms during protests.

When the Saturday confrontation began, bystander video shows protesters blowing whistles and shouting profanities at federal officers on a commercial street in south Minneapolis.

The videos show Pretti stepping in after an immigration officer shoves a woman. Pretti appears to be holding his phone toward the officer, but there's no sign he's holding a weapon.

The officer shoves Pretti in his chest and pepper sprays him and the woman.

Soon, at least seven officers force Pretti to the ground. Several officers try to bring his arms behind his back as he appears to resist. An officer holding a canister strikes him near his head several times.

A first shot is fired by a Border Patrol officer. There’s a slight pause, and then the same officer fires several more times into Pretti’s back. Multiple officers back off. Within seconds, Pretti is motionless on the street.

If Saturday was marked by clashes, with angry protesters blockading streets and agents firing canisters of tear gas, Sunday was marked by sadness.

Police cars with flashing lights have closed traffic to the block where the shooting occurred, and a constant flow of people came and went Sunday, gathering near the spot where Pretti was shot. There were 100 or so people at the scene Sunday night. Some sang, some prayed, some brought flowers or lit candles. TV news crews set up on the periphery of the crowd, and a man was giving away hand warmers with temperatures hovering just above 0 Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius).

Brett Williams, 37, came from the city's suburbs to attend a vigil there earlier Sunday.

“I stand in solidarity with a brother whose life was taken too soon,” he said. “He’s standing up for immigrants. We’re all immigrants.”

Associated Press writers Jack Brook and Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis, Michael Biesecker and Michelle L. Price in Washington and Jim Mustian in New York contributed this story.

A Minnesota National Guard member walks around with their weapon in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People protest against ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in Omaha, Neb. on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - People protest against ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in downtown Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A makeshift memorial is placed where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer yesterday, in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a news conference in Blaine, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Federal immigration agents work on the scene in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A person is pushed back by a federal agent working on the scene in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

BCA officers stand on the scene where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer yesterday, in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

BCA officers stand near the scene of a fatal shooting that took place yesterday, in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People gather near the scene where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer yesterday, in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Federal agents deploy tear gas and other munitions into a crowd of people near the intersection of 27th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis after a federal officer shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

People gather at the site where a federal officer shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

A person holds up their hands as law enforcement deploys a thick screen of teargas on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Victor Wembanyama brought the energy from opening tip of the NBA All-Star Game, and it proved infectious.

Some were crediting the 7-foot-5 San Antonio Spurs star for doing more to save the midseason showcase in mere minutes than anything the league has done in years.

“It was a pretty good display of basketball,” Wembanyama said. “Better than last year, in my opinion. It was fun.”

Wembanyama had been confident going in that setting the tone with competitive fire would make a difference in the league's 75th annual showcase on Sunday at Intuit Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers' year-old arena.

“If you share that energy," he said, "people feel like they have a responsibility to share it back to you.”

This year featured yet another new format. Two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players competed in a round-robin tournament consisting of three 12-minute games, all of which had exciting finishes. The top two teams by record advanced to the title game.

“I liked it,” Wembanyama said. “I wouldn’t be against this format in the future, and I wouldn’t be against the regular East versus West either.”

The U.S. Stars team beat the U.S. Stripes 47-21 for the championship, with Anthony Edwards earning MVP honors.

Retired Spurs player Manu Ginobili on X called it the “most fun NBA All-Star Game in a loooong time!”

World team player Karl-Anthony Towns said, “I feel that after today I think you all can see the competition is there, and I think that we all brought it today and a sense of effort. I hope that the fans and all of you appreciate it.”

The first All-Star Game in 1951 debuted an East vs. West format that continued until 2018, when it was replaced with a player draft, where that year’s top vote-getters acted as captains and selected their teams from the pool of available starters, regardless of conference.

That lasted until 2024, when East vs. West returned for one year.

Last year, in San Francisco, the game was played tournament-style, with three eight-player teams and a fourth team of rising stars. Games were played to 40 points to decide a winner.

Next year a U.S. vs the rest of the world format is on tap for the game in Phoenix.

Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, who is from Israel and played on the World team, called the latest change a fun format.

“People are about to understand that it’s fun watching the All-Star Game,” he said. “It’s going to be a little more competitive, try to bring it back.”

Boston Celtics fan Siddakk Chatrah was initially skeptical of a new format that wasn't easily explainable.

“The first game Wemby and some other international stars brought the energy, and Anthony Edwards matched them,” said Chatrah, who was at his first All-Star Game. “Then these young dudes brought the energy to LeBron, KD, they stepped up. It's a better watching experience at a way better level than I could have imagined. Yeah, it’s a little confusing, but I think they might have found something they can tweak a little more."

Even Kawhi Leonard was a bit unsure of how things worked. Cheered by his home fans, the Los Angeles Clippers superstar scored 31 points and shot 84% from the floor.

“Even as the game’s going on, trying to figure out the records for being 2-1 and how you play that out as well. Is it like by points? How many? Point spread or what?” he said. “I thought it was good, but I still think going back to East-West will be great. I think guys will compete still.”

Instead of being played in the evening, the event was held in mid-afternoon — ideal in attracting younger viewers — so NBC could feature the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in prime time.

Jaylen Brown likes the idea of adding a 1-on-1 competition to All-Star weekend.

“It reminds me of the purity of the game. Like, it’s just mano y mano,” the Boston Celtics guard said. “You got people on the court talking trash. You got to be an offensive and a defensive player.”

Brown took the idea further, suggesting players could challenge each other to 1-on-1 games.

“There are some people I would love to challenge," he said. "We could donate to whatever charity. Let's set it up.”

Detroit's Cade Cunningham has played under different formats in each of his first two years as an All-Star. He'd like to try the traditional East vs. West format.

“I want to be able to experience what all the greats played in and everything,” he said. “But I’m just playing the cards I was dealt. I’m sure it will come back eventually.”

Count LeBron James among its fans, even if the 41-year-old isn't around to see a potential return.

“I like the East and West format,” he said. “It’s been really good.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Barack Obama talks to Julius Erving during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

USA Stars guard Tyrese Maxey, left, is defended by World center Victor Wembanyama, of France, during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

World center Victor Wembanyama, of France, reacts next to USA Stripes forward LeBron James (23) during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

USA Stripes forward Kawhi Leonard, left, celebrates with forward Kevin Durant after scoring against World during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)