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Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, called for a full investigation after a federal agent shot and killed an allegedly armed man in Minneapolis on Saturday, calling the incident “incredibly disturbing.”
Cassidy joined a chorus of Democratic lawmakers raising questions following the shooting death of 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Alex J. Pretti, killed by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday. Pretti allegedly confronted officers during a Department of Homeland Security operation in south Minneapolis and was carrying a gun, according to the agency.
“The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing,” Cassidy said in a post on X. “The credibility of ICE and DHS is at stake. There must be a full joint federal and state investigation.”
Cassidy added that “we can trust the American people with the truth.”
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Sen. Bill Cassidy called for a full federal and state investigation after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed a gunman during a DHS operation in Minneapolis. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The Louisiana Republican's comments apparently clashed with members of his party, including President Donald Trump, who said in a post on Truth Social after the shooting that federal agents “had to protect themselves” due to a lack of support from local police in Minneapolis.
“This is the gunman's gun, loaded (with two extra full magazines!) and ready to go. What's that all about? Where are the local police? Why weren't they allowed to protect the ICE officers?” Trump wrote in the post. “Did the mayor and governor cancel them? It is claimed that many of these police officers were not allowed to do their jobs, that ICE had to protect themselves. Not an easy thing to do!”
Last week, Trump pledged his support to U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow if she entered the Republican primary in Louisiana, challenging Cassidy, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2015. Letlow launched her Senate bid days later.
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Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), during a press conference at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, DC, on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Cassidy was one of the Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump after the House impeached him in 2021. The Senate vote ultimately fell short of the threshold required to convict Trump.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference Saturday that the incident occurred while DHS agents were conducting “targeted operations” in Minneapolis against an illegal immigrant with a violent criminal history.
“An individual approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a 9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun,” Noem said, adding that agents attempted to disarm him.
“Officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently,” Noem said. “Fearing for his life and the lives of his fellow officers around him, one officer fired defensive shots.”
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Noem said Pretti had “two magazines with ammunition containing dozens of bullets” and no identification, adding that “this appears to be a situation where an individual came to the scene to inflict maximum harm on people and kill law enforcement.”
He said DHS is investigating the shooting “as we do all other officer-involved shootings,” adding that additional details would be provided soon.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said during a news conference Saturday that “we need to get ICE out of Minnesota,” while blaming the Trump administration.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar called for ICE to be removed from Minnesota while criticizing the Trump administration following a fatal Border Patrol shooting in Minneapolis. (Fox News)
“I have personally warned them that there would be more deaths, that this would happen more,” he said. “And they clearly aren't listening. That's why we're asking people across the country to talk to their Republican representatives to make it clear that this is not the America that is ours. This has to stop.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Klobuchar's comments in an X post on Saturday, saying federal agents should not be kicked out of Minnesota.
“We need dangerous illegal criminal aliens out of Minnesota. The Democrats have their priorities completely backwards. They will not keep the American people safe,” he wrote.
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In his own post, Vice President JD Vance blamed “far-left agitators” for the recent unrest in Minneapolis.
“This level of designed chaos is unique to Minneapolis,” he posted on X on Saturday night. “It is the direct consequence of the collaboration of far-left agitators with local authorities.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital's Jasmine Baehr and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
