Georgia Sen. Warnock visits Alex Pretti memorial, meets with faith leaders after Minneapolis shootings
Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock spent Tuesday on the streets of Minneapolis, visiting memorial sites and meeting with community members as he sharpened his criticism of federal immigration enforcement following two deadly encounters involving federal agents in the city.
Warnock said he visited the locations where Alex Pretti and Renee Good were killed, calling the trip a moral moment and vowing to honor their legacies with action, not just words. In social media posts and videos shared Tuesday, Warnock said he was determined to block funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to hold President Donald Trump accountable.
"I visited the sites where Alex Pretti and Renee Good were murdered this morning," Warnock wrote. "I am determined to honor their legacy not just with words, but with action."
In a video recorded during his visit, Warnock said he was inspired by what he saw from residents in Minneapolis, even as he described the moment as a dark chapter for the country. He accused ICE of violating basic rights and operating without accountability, alleging the agency was kidnapping children, killing Americans and entering homes without warrants.
"This cannot stand," Warnock said, adding that people in Minneapolis were showing courage by speaking out. He promised to use his role in the U.S. Senate to block ICE funding and use congressional oversight to hold the agency accountable, urging residents to continue raising their voices.
Warnock said he traveled to Minnesota to stand with those protesting federal immigration actions and framed the moment as a test of the nation's commitment to freedom. "There comes a time in every generation where we must decide if we will stand up for our freedoms," he wrote, telling supporters he was fighting alongside them.
The visit came days after Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs, was shot and killed Saturday in south Minneapolis by a U.S. Border Patrol agent. The Department of Homeland Security said the agent acted in self-defense while attempting to disarm Pretti, a claim local officials have disputed. Bystander video appears to show Pretti holding a cellphone, not a gun, in the moments before he was shot.
Pretti was a U.S. citizen born in Illinois with no criminal history, according to court records, and his family said he had no significant prior encounters with law enforcement.
The shooting occurred less than three weeks after another fatal incident in Minneapolis involving a federal immigration agent. Renee Good was killed earlier this month, raising concerns among city leaders about an expanded federal immigration presence and a lack of transparency around enforcement operations.
Warnock had already criticized ICE in a series of social media posts, calling the agency a threat to American freedoms and accusing it of operating without sufficient oversight. He said he planned to vote against funding for ICE, arguing the agency was detaining children, tearing families apart and killing Americans.
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff also responded, condemning what he described as civil liberties abuses by the Trump administration and citing reports of masked federal agents detaining U.S. citizens and conducting warrantless raids. California Rep. Ro Khanna visited Minneapolis earlier in the week and attended the Pretti vigil.
Both fatal incidents remain under investigation.
