(TNND) — Following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday by a U.S. border patrol agent in Minneapolis, Democrats are calling for federal immigration officers to leave the state of Minnesota.
The shooting has increased tensions as protesters gather on the frigid streets continuing to clash with federal officers and demanding that they leave the state.
A federal judge issued an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to Saturday’s shooting, after state and county officials issued a lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is meant to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday and will take place in federal court in St. Paul.
A full, impartial, and transparent investigation into his fatal shooting at the hands of DHS agents is non-negotiable,” Ellison said in a statement.
The Department of Homeland Security said that Pretti had a handgun and “violently resisted” when agents tried to disarm him, leading to the fatal shooting. State and local officials have continually disputed that claim.
On Saturday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the videos show that account to be “nonsense and lies.”
Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino said he is “not blaming the Border Patrol Agents,” during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
The victims are the Border Patrol agents,” Bovino said. “The suspect put himself in that situation.
Officials continue to clash over videos that show different accounts of the shooting.
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Ellison has demanded a “full, impartial and transparent investigation” into the shooting.
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