Minnesota BCA "committed" to finding way to work with feds on Alex Pretti probe

Less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Trump's first year back in the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by CBS News.

The official statistics contained in the DHS document, which had not been previously reported publicly, provide the most detailed look yet into who ICE has arrested during the Trump administration's far-reaching deportation operations across the U.S.

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Luis Ramirez said he first noticed the car marked with an electric company's logo on Jan. 28. It was sitting in the parking lot of his restaurant in Shakopee, Minnesota; it occurred to him that neither his business nor the laundromat next door needed electric work done. 

He said he approached the car, with two men in the front seat wearing white hard hats and green reflective vests, and asked them to leave. One week later, Feb. 4, the car was sitting across the street. Ramirez became convinced they were U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in disguise, so he confronted them while recording. 

People describing themselves as constitutional observers tell WCCO that in the past week, reports of ICE agents disguising themselves have flooded in from the Twin Cities Metro and rural areas of the state. Lee Steadman, part of a broader observer network, said that it's possible that some of these reports are not accurate, but notes that they are able to evaluate legitimacy based on known patterns and repeat photo evidence of the same suspicious people. 

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A judge at an asylum hearing on Friday granted the family of 5-year-old Liam Ramos a continuance, allowing them more time to make their case, according to the family's attorney.

Liam Ramos and his father Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos returned home to Minnesota Sunday from the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas after a federal judge temporarily barred federal immigration officials from deporting them.  

The Department of Homeland Security moved to end the family's asylum claim, but Friday's decision by the judge gives the family more time.

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In an effort to push back on Operation Metro Surge, businesses across the Twin Cities are fundraising.

On Saturday, Kristy Dirk and her daughter set up a table selling Chonk Chonk ice cream sandwiches inside Bench Pressed in Minneapolis. Dirk called their effort "ice cream for a cause," with $5 from the sale of each sandwich donated to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.

"It's just our way of doing something," said Dirk. "We sold almost all of the first freezer full of inventory within an hour, so huge support."

56 Brewing also hosted an event on Saturday. The brewery advertising 100% of their taproom profits would support groups like the Immigrant Defense Network and CLUES, a Latino-led nonprofit in St. Paul.

Along with the beer, Tee Squared set up a printing press for T-shirts and sweatshirts.

Tran Truong, a Minneapolis resident, walked away with a few freshly printed pieces.

"People coming together like this on such short notice and so organized has been indescribable," Truong said.

Other local businesses are advertising their location as a donation site, like Pow Wow Grounds Coffee and Children's Theater Company.

Native groups rallied at the Whipple Federal Building on Saturday afternoon, calling for federal agents to leave Minnesota. 

They also brought forth the history and significance of the Whipple Building and the land it sits on. 

"The land the Whipple Building rests on, right? It's the land of the Dakota people. This is the land, it's stolen, it's the land of broken treaties," said Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy of the All Nations Indian Church. 

"This land, this very land that we're standing on right now, is being illegally occupied by the federal government. It carries a long history of state violence against indigenous people," said Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs with Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. 

"Our hope is to bring forward the history and the pain, but also the resilience of the story of what is happening and what has happened here before," said Sherman-Conroy. 

At least 50 people were arrested Saturday afternoon at a large protest at the Whipple Federal Building, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.

The protest remained peaceful for the majority of the time. However, later Saturday afternoon the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office declared protesters were unlawfully assembled after "agitators threw ice chunks" and a deputy was struck in the head. The sheriff's office also says a windshield on a squad car was broken.

Several people, who remained on scene, were taken away in handcuffs. 

Masked federal agents who drove into the Whipple Federal building were confronted by a loud chorus of protestors throughout the afternoon.  

Far right influencer Jake Lang briefly drove by the crowd early Saturday afternoon, a day after he was released from jail. Protesters say they were at the rally to confront him.  

Some chased after the U-Haul truck that he was in. One woman claimed that she was pepper-sprayed by Lang.

"They mock us as they drive away. They mock us and laugh. The inhumanity, the cruelty, our rights are completely gone," said protestor Rachelle. 

"These are my neighbors that are disappearing, and there's no way to justify that," said protestor Amanda Corbett. 

Dozens of protestors could be seen throwing adult sex toys at cars driven by federal immigration agents. 

"It's almost satirical that people are throwing these. I think symbolism is important and I think this is one of the easiest symbols for people who don't agree with what's going on," said protestor Tim Pelcak.

"I think it sends a message that we have a sense of humor," said Corbett.

Becca Good, the partner of Renee Good, released a statement on Saturday, thanking the Minneapolis community for its kindness "in the middle of grief and fear."

"I am so proud to call Minneapolis my home," she said. Becca Good went on to say that while her partner's death, and that of Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, have captured nationwide attention, "there are many others in the city being harmed that you don't know."  

"Their families are hurting just like mine, even if they don't look like mine," she wrote. "They are neighbors, friends, coworkers, classmates. And we must also know their names. Because this shouldn't happen to anyone."  

Attorneys for the federal government have until Thursday to reach an agreement with human rights lawyers who are seeking to ensure the right to counsel for people detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Minnesota, a judge said Friday.

Advocates said people held at the facility on the edge of Minneapolis who face possible deportation are denied adequate access to lawyers, including in-person meetings. Attorney Jeffrey Dubner said detainees are allowed to make phone calls, but ICE personnel are typically nearby.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told Justice Department attorney Christina Parascandola that there seemed to be a "very wide factual disconnect" between what the human rights lawyers allege and the government's claims of adequate access at what ICE depicts as only a temporary holding facility.

Parascandola said people detained at the facility have access to counsel and unmonitored phone calls at any time and for as long as they need. She conceded she had never been there.

Brasel called her argument "a tough sell," noting there was far more evidence in the case record to back up the plaintiffs' claims than the government's assurances.

"The gap here is so enormous I don't know how you're going to close it," the judge said.

Rather than ruling on the spot, Brasel told both sides to keep meeting with a retired judge who's mediating and who has helped narrow some of the gaps already. She noted at the start of the hearing that both sides agreed that "some degree of reasonable access" to legal counsel is constitutionally necessary but that they differed on the details of what that should look like.

If the sides don't reach at least a partial agreement by 5 p.m. on Feb. 12, the judge said she'll issue her order then. She didn't specify which way she'd rule.

There are around 30,000 observers within Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action Minnesota's network, according to the nonprofit. WCCO rode in the backseat with a few of them in Minneapolis to see how they operate.

Driving west on Lake Street in Minneapolis, Emily Phillips abruptly stopped talking mid-sentence, noticing a pickup truck with heavily tinted windows. 

"That's a suspicious vehicle," Phillips noted before making a quick note in her phone and opening up an encrypted messaging service, part of her work as a constitutional observer. 

The title belongs to those who say they have undergone training to learn their legal rights, aiming to keep a close eye on federal agents as Operation Metro Surge continues. Some tell WCCO that, while border czar Tom Homan said 700 federal agents would be leaving starting Wednesday, they are not seeing much change when it comes to aggression on Minnesota streets. 

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Documents by the Minneapolis Police Department and Minneapolis Fire Department obtained WCCO on Friday reveal what happened in the moments following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal officers last month. 

According to Minneapolis police, the first call regarding the Jan. 24 shooting in south Minneapolis happened at 9:03 a.m. Around 21 minutes later, federal agents asked MPD officers to leave the crime scene. Documents said the officers stayed in the area after the request. 

The FBI started its investigation at 10:49 a.m., police said.

Just after 12:26 p.m., Minneapolis police officers tried to hold the scene for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension so the state agency could gather evidence and investigate.

A Minneapolis Fire Department report showed the first crew was at the scene 49 seconds after they heard an alarm. They attempted CPR and other life-saving measures on Pretti before he was taken to the hospital where he later died.

The family of Alex Pretti remains hopeful state and federal investigators can work together to investigate his death.

Federal agents shot and killed him nearly two weeks ago, and the federal government is leading the investigation.

After a contentious start to the investigation into Pretti's death, his family feels true justice starts with the FBI and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension collaborating.

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Minneapolis has been nominated for a 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, the city said in a social media post on Friday afternoon.

Officials cited residents' "courageous solidarity to promote democracy, human rights and peace" as reasoning for the nomination. 

According to the Nobel Peace Prize website, there is no public list of this year's nominees.

"Over the course of time the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded in recognition of many different kinds of peace work and concepts of peace," the website said.

A group of demonstrators chained themselves to the front of Morrill Hall at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on Friday. 

The protesters called on Rebecca Cunningham, the university's president, to declare the school a "sanctuary campus."

At least six people wore shirts that said "SANCTUARY CAMPUS NOW" while sitting in front of the campus facility.

A later photo showed at least one student appearing to be taken into custody by Minneapolis police.

WCCO has reached out to the university for comment.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Angie Craig and Betty McCollum of Minnesota said Friday that they were denied entry to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility at the Whipple federal building in Minneapolis.

McCollum, of Minnesota's 4th Congressional District, said she was told by federal officials that, because of a lawsuit, only 13 people are allowed in the facility, though she did not expand on the lawsuit she was referring to. 

McCollum added that there's language in the last appropriations bill that was passed that allows members of Congress to "fulfill their Congressional obligation for life, health and safety, and to make sure that people are treated in humane conditions."

CBS News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for clarity about why members of Congress were not allowed in, but they did not provide any answers, instead saying that "any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE facilities are false."

"I've never seen anything like this," McCollum said. "No president has ever behaved this way, breaking the law, breaking the constitution, and having his administration just decide what they wanna do and what they don't wanna do. Whether it's the Defense Department or the Department of Homeland Security, it's out of control." 

Friday marked the second time Craig, who represents Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District, was denied access to the facility. She, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, and Rep. Kelly Morrison, D-Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District, were denied entry last month.

"We are bound by our duties as members of Congress to be able to check on their health, on their safety," Craig said.

She added that she's received reports from her constituents that some of the people detained have "serious medical issues" and that family members aren't able to give prescription drugs to them. 

Craig and McCollum in a joint written statement, said, "This will not be the last time we show up to conduct our oversight duties."

Morrison calls for facility's closure

Morrison, who was granted access to the Whipple building facility on Friday afternoon, says she saw about 40 people inside.

She says she's worried about the spread of measles at the building and couldn't get any information on plans to limit exposure. 

Morrison was told two people at the facility on Friday were brought from Texas, where there are reports of measles at a detention center.

"People are sleeping on concrete floors. They don't have real blankets. They have those kind of tinfoil, temporary blankets. It's a very, it's a very disheartening scene and I think it's beneath what we should expect in the United States of America," Morrison said on Friday afternoon.

She said the facility should be shut down.

"People are very dejected. It's horrifying to be present in that place," Morrison said.

She added she was let in because she's one of 13 members of Congress suing the Trump administration over policies restricting unannounced visits to ICE facilities.

Morrison made two visits to the facility before Friday.

Several Twin Cities small businesses say Operation Metro Surge has cost them millions of dollars in revenue. Now, they're asking for the community's help. 

A group of business leaders gathered Friday at Urban Growler in St. Paul, Minnesota, to highlight the dire situation, and make it clear that the time is now to act. 

We're finally getting a look at some of the numbers when it comes to the financial impact of the ICE surge, with individual businesses losing thousands of dollars a day — while the city of Minneapolis is losing millions of dollars a week.

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Hundreds of protesters marched through downtown Minneapolis on Friday afternoon to demand an end to Operation Metro Surge and for all federal immigration agents to leave Minnesota.

While this was the third consecutive Friday a protest has been held downtown, the latest rally was the smallest.

Despite a smaller crowd size, the frustration and passion were just as strong as in previous weeks.  

"I find it offensive that they are masked," said protester John Lindholm. "I think it's a sad part of history and I hope it gets recorded properly."

The demonstrators chanted and held handwritten signs with clear messages aimed at federal immigration authorities. Those in attendance say they were encouraged that the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to pull 700 officers from Minnesota, but say they plan to continue protesting until every officer is gone.

"I have to stand up for my neighbors and make some noise about the inhumanity happening.  There's also a lot of good happening, and I want to be part of the good," said protester Anne-Therese Mracek.

"We need ICE out. We need them gone.  They are terrorizing our communities. They are a militarized police force and they need go," said Sandy, a protester.

The rally started at the Commons at 2 p.m and people lined both sides of Portland Avenue. Protesters then snaked through several downtown streets.  

Traffic was slightly delayed at some intersections due to the demonstration. The crowd dispersed just after 4 p.m 

This protest, similar to the previous downtown protests, remained peaceful.  No arrests were made. 

A similar demonstration was scheduled for Friday evening at the governor's residence.

Immigration Enforcement operations across the U.S. are resulting in "severe economic disruption," according to State Auditor Julie Blaha. 

Fifteen fiscal officers throughout the country, along with Blaha, in a joint letter to President Trump on Friday warned that recent enforcement activities have disrupted "daily economic life."

"Our responsibilities require us to safeguard state fiscal health, manage public funds prudently, and ensure the economic stability our budgets depend upon," the letter said. "The enforcement operations currently underway across multiple states threaten to produce economic harm that directly undermine these obligations."

The coalition added that business leaders have shared concern about the impacts the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge is having on their workforces and operations. 

Blaha said border czar Tom Homan's announcement on Wednesday that 700 federal agents would be leaving Minnesota is a "step in the right direction," but does not address the "broader impact" of Operation Metro Surge.

The coalition is asking the Trump administration to immediately scale back enforcement activities and to ensure economic stability. 

Minneapolis Public Schools announced late Thursday it's extending online learning options through April 6 for families who need it as ICE activity continues. 

The virtual learning option was originally set to end on Feb. 12. 

In the announcement, district officials said they will continue to monitor the situation and may return to full in-person learning sooner than the first week of April.

If that happens, the district said it will give families at least two weeks' notice.

A Minnesota activist was arrested Thursday and charged with threatening to assault and kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the Justice Department said.

Prosecutors allege that Kyle Wagner, 37, shared comments and videos to Facebook and Instagram last month that encouraged his followers to attack federal immigration officers, who he called the "gestapo" and "murderers." He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court on Thursday. 

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Law enforcement arrested pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist and far-right influencer Jake Lang in St. Paul for destroying a sculpture on the front steps of the Capitol on Thursday.

Lang posted a video to social media of him kicking the newly-installed sculpture that reads "prosecute ICE." 

A state trooper arrested Lang a short time later near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and University Avenue. He was booked at the Ramsey County Jail for suspicion of criminal damage to property.

In a post to X, Lang claims he is being charged with a felony.

The sculpture had been put up earlier the same day by a group of veterans who were protesting ICE's ongoing presence in Minnesota.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations aren't only happening in the Twin Cities.

Federal agents are also working in smaller towns, and in some, seeing similar resistance from the community. 

In Northfield, Minnesota, the mayor says ICE activity isn't slowing down. 

Northfield — self-described city of "cows, colleges, and contentment" — with its downtown of coffee shops and mom and pops, seems like a place where the best of times endure. But in the last few weeks, anxiety has been rising.

"Originally it was a car or two a day, now it's multiple car loads, the number of ICE agents in the car is increasing," Erica Zweifel, the mayor of Northfield, said.

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Border czar Tom Homan said a drawdown in federal agents will happen when more Minnesota counties cooperate and if people stop interfering with federal agents.

"If you violate the law, you will be federally prosecuted," Homan said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Homan says in the past month, 158 people have been arrested for impeding or assaulting federal officers, with 85 cases already accepted for prosecution.

The Department of Homeland Security posted photos of nine people on X, saying, "more agitators arrested in Minneapolis."

One pictured in the post is Davis Redmond. Court documents say he was "driving aggressively" while following border patrol agents through Minneapolis before he "suddenly (accelerated) his car, colliding with the black GMC" driven by border patrol.  

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Nearly two weeks after 99 clergy members were arrested and charged during a protest at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, three are sitting down to share their story.

Rev. Katherine Lewis of St. David's Episcopal Church in Minnetonka, Rev. Daniel Ruth, executive director of Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry, and Rev. Amanda Lunemann of Grace United Methodist Church in Burnsville each say they felt a calling to be at the airport protest, despite the risk of arrest and the reality of the bone-chilling cold.

"My vocation has been to walk beside my neighbors. This has been a really intentional, concrete way to do that," Ruth said. "Part of being a faith leader is trying to get at what is true. The sort of underlying assumption of the whole surge is that immigrants are criminals and immigrants and dangerous. I don't think the facts bear that out."

Each of the three say their faith was the driving factor.

"To show up, to put your body on the line, is not something you should do out of bravado, it should be a call," Lunemann said. "This is not how we treat human beings. We don't do that. We're not going to do that. We're going to stand up for a different story."

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The Minneapolis City Council voted Thursday to give a $1 million of rental assistance to Hennepin County to help families impacted during Operation Metro Surge.

Council members say they've spoken with community members too afraid to go to work due to fear of being apprehended.

"I spoke to a mom who is disabled, her husband is in detention. She's now suddenly become a single parent. She's behind on rent," said Council member Aisha Chughtai. "Every story is tragic. It is heartbreaking."

Council members say the funds would benefit 250 families, but stress it's just a drop in the bucket. The council debated where the money would come from.

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Community leaders in St. Cloud, Minnesota, say federal agents have detained at least 10 Somali people there and arrested several more during protests.

One man says he was arrested and released, only to be arrested again.

Video taken from outside a St. Cloud grocery store shows Mohamed Jama being taken into custody.

Court records say Immigration and Customs Enforcement was looking for another person whom they mistook Jama for and tried to pull him over. Jama says he was frightened and tried to drive away. 

"I wish they would have a siren on me, I would've stopped earlier, but that never happened. Unmarked vehicles chasing you," Jama said.

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Most of the 4,000 people that the Department of Homeland Security says they've arrested since the start of Operation Metro Surge are taken to the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis.

Some go out of state, and the rest go to a handful of Minnesota county jails that have agreements with the federal authorities.

The Crow Wing County Jail started accepting ICE detainees in November 2025. The county sheriff, Eric Klang, says that oftentimes, they're brought in a few at a time.

"We have anywhere from 50 to 30 detainees at any one time, give or take. I mean, they're coming and going all the time," said Klang.

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Juan Leon had only been running his Twin Cities tow truck business, Leo's Towing, for a few months when he noticed a pattern that kept repeating itself.

Cars were being left behind across the metro area – parked on streets, in parking lots, sometimes for days at a time. The owners were gone, and in many cases, they had been arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"Seeing there was a need for someone to help out, help clear the streets and get the people back their vehicles. So we stepped up and started doing it," Leon said.

By late December, Leon and his small towing crew decided to do something about it, all thanks to observers calling in and reporting these vehicles.

"Families reach out to us. If the family isn't reaching out, we'll find a way to get inside the vehicle and we'll bring it back to their house and put it in a safe spot," Leon said.

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Patients in Minnesota are canceling appointments and deferring critical health care needs because of fear of immigration enforcement as the federal crackdown continues, doctors say. Those physicians worry the impacts will last long after the surge subsides.    

Dr. Roli Dwivedi, who practices family medicine and also works at the University of Minnesota, explained health care organizations are still trying to get a sense of the scope, but she believes the number of cancellations could be as high as 50% or 60%. 

"People are not choosing to come because the fear is just so intense," said Dwivedi.

Anxiety about encountering U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents at clinics and hospitals cuts across immigrant communities, regardless of their immigration status, she told WCCO in an interview. 

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As thousands in Minnesota grapple with loved ones facing deportation, the fight in the immigration court system has become a critical lifeline. For at least two Ecuadorian women, their efforts to find legal assistance turned out to compound their problems, telling WCCO that they believe they've been scammed. 

Geovana Patricia said that when ICE detained her husband, she didn't know who to turn to; that is, until a friend, Alexandra Chorlango, recommended an attorney whom she contacted for help after her brother was detained. 

Patricia called a number with a Florida area code on a digital flyer for "Inmigrate & Asociados L.LC." A woman claiming to be an attorney, whom WCCO is not yet naming, told her that she could help, but immediately asked for a payment of $1,500 to start the process. 

"I was so desperate that I sent it to them," Patricia said. "I was scammed, maybe because I was desperate. I just wanted to help my husband." 

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Many in the community and mental health experts are finding ways of handling it.

"I mean, my last six therapy sessions have been basically all talking about this," said Nate P.

"It really wears on people. It's kind of always in the back of your mind, and it's hard to not think about it," said Angela Keppel.  

Fear and uncertainty are taking a toll on the community, with many unsure of how to cope. 

Mental health concerns are on the rise as immigration enforcement plays out in Minnesota and across the country.

"We're seeing the images, it's hard to look away," said Marcus Schmit, executive director of NAMI Minnesota. "People are feeling helpless, as they watch friends, neighbors, kids impacted."

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As immigration sweeps and detentions have expanded in Minnesota and around the country, the work of justifying those detentions is overwhelming federal prosecutors, who are being forced to sideline a range of other criminal and civil cases in order to keep pace.

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota declared in a new brief filed in federal court that his staff faces "an enormous burden" and that a "flood" of immigration cases is negatively affecting his office's work.

"This office has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities," wrote U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen, who was only confirmed to his post last October.

"Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are continuously working overtime," he wrote. "All this is happening while the MN-USAO Civil division is down 50%."

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