The following ten questions concern the Trump administration’s actions in Minnesota, and in particular the ICE killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. No matter who the Trump administration has running immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, these questions remain important and unanswered. Shuffling leaders is not a substitute for needed information and accountability. Journalists and Congress could – and should – demand answers. Career Executive Branch officials may want answers from their colleagues as well.
1. Administration officials have said that Agent Ross (who repeatedly shot and killed Renee Good) and the unnamed federal agents (who repeatedly shot and killed Alex Pretti) were following protocol and acting consistent with their training. Do you support using the videos of these killings as model examples to train federal agents?
2. Is the administration doing an investigation into the Pretti matter? You have claimed you are, but you have not said exactly what and who is being investigated; is it Pretti or the agents or both? Is it, as has been reported, only a “use of force” review?
Follow up questions:
a) Is Pretti a “suspect” as Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino described him (on January 25) and a domestic terrorist? Is Renee Good or Becca Good?
b) If you are investigating the federal agents involved in shooting Pretti, why not the same for Agent Ross in the Good case?
3. How can the Trump administration conclude with no investigation that both the Good and Pretti shootings were justified?
4. How do you justify bullets 2 and 3 in the Good case, when Good and her car were well past Agent Ross at the time? (The autopsy suggests it was one of those shots that killed her.)
5. How can you justify the repeated shooting of Pretti when he was lying motionless on the ground?
6. Did Pretti ever brandish a gun? if not, how can the Trump administration claim he was going to use it, or say he was going to kill law enforcement?
7. On January 26, Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche said he would not make any statement that Pretti is a “domestic terrorist,” because that would prejudice any investigation. Given that Secretary Noem made that exact statement repeatedly, why hasn’t she (and administration officials parroting that false claim) prejudiced the investigation? By contrast state and local prosecutorial authorities have not made such statements, and they routinely partner with federal authorities on these investigations; why have you not done so here, and even barred them having access to the evidence? What are you afraid of?
8. How can the Trump administration do an independent and impartial investigation when senior leaders have already announced the conclusion that both shootings were justified in self defense?
9. If having a gun at a protest is impermissible, as the FBI Director Patel has said, does that apply to the armed people who attacked the Capitol on January 6th and would the Capitol police have been justified in shooting them?
10. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Meet the Press: “[Y]ou just described what every American has seen, which is video, shortly ahead of the incident, where he was screaming in the face of ICE. He had a phone up right into ICE’s face. You tell me, is that protesting peacefully?” How is that relevant to his being shot to death if he was not an imminent danger to anyone? Does filming or shouting at federal agents during a protest justify federal agents use of deadly force? How was the conduct of Pretti not peaceful?
Bonus Question: In case you need one more question, in September 2025, the Trump administration issued National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, entitled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence” (NSPM-7), which was followed by the Attorney General’s implementing memorandum. Question: Are you falsely labelling protestors and observers as “domestic terrorists” so as to be able to trigger the findings that by merely engaging in this First Amendment activity they have a strong propensity to commit violence and should be targeted by law enforcement as such? (For more background, see Tom Joscelyn and Ryan Goodman, The Smearing of Alex Pretti and NSPM-7 (Jan. 26, 2026).)
FEATURED IMAGE: L-R
(1) MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – JANUARY 07: Police tape surrounds a vehicle suspected to be involved in a shooting by an ICE agent during federal law enforcement operations on January 07, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to federal officials, the agent, “fearing for his life” killed a woman during a confrontation in south Minneapolis. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(2) A mourner visits a makeshift memorial in the area where Alex Pretti was shot dead a day earlier by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25, 2026. On January 24, federal agents shot dead US citizen Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, while scuffling with him on an icy roadway, less than three weeks after an immigration officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car.His killing sparked new protests and impassioned demands by local leaders for the Trump administration to end its operation in the city. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)
(3) ICE and other federal officers approach a residential building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 13, 2026.(Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)
Great Job Andrew Weissmann & the Team @ Just Security Source link for sharing this story.
