GOP Sen. Cassidy calls for probe after Border Patrol agent kills Minneapolis man

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Los Angeles, called for a full investigation after a federal agent shot an allegedly armed man in Minneapolis on Saturday, calling the incident “incredibly disturbing.”

Cassidy joined the chorus of Democratic lawmakers raising questions after the killing of Alex J. Pretty, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident, who was killed by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday. The agency reported that Preeti confronted officers during a Department of Homeland Security operation in south Minneapolis and was carrying a gun.

“The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. The credibility of ICE and DHS is at stake. There must be a full, joint federal and state investigation,” Cassidy said in a post on X.

“We can trust the American people with the truth,” Cassidy added.

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The Louisiana Republican’s comments appeared to conflict with members of his own 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 full extra magazines!) and ready to go – what’s all this about? Where are the local police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE officers?” Trump wrote in the post. “The mayor and the governor pulled them over? It’s been said that many of these police officers were not allowed to do their jobs, and ICE had to protect themselves – which is not easy!”

Last week, Trump pledged his endorsement of US Rep. Julia Letlow if she ran in Louisiana’s Republican primary, challenging Cassidy, who has served in the US Senate since 2015. Letlow launched her Senate bid days later.

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Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), during a press conference at Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Valerie Blish/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 minimum needed to convict Trump.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a press conference on Saturday that the incident occurred while DHS officers were carrying out “targeted operations” in Minneapolis against an undocumented immigrant with a violent criminal history.

“One subject approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a 9 mm 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 surrounding him, the agent fired defensive shots.”

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Noem said Pretty had “two magazines containing dozens of rounds of ammunition” and no identification, adding that “this appears to be a situation where an individual arrived on the scene to inflict as much harm on the individuals and kill law enforcement officers.”

The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the shooting “just as we do all other officer-involved shootings,” she said, adding that additional details would be released.

“We need ICE out of Minnesota,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said during a news conference on Saturday, while blaming the Trump administration.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar has called for the removal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement from Minnesota while criticizing the Trump administration in the wake of the deadly Border Patrol shooting in Minneapolis. (Fox News)

“I personally warned them that there would be more deaths, and that more of this would happen,” she added. “And they’re clearly not listening. So, we’re asking people across the country to talk to their Republican representatives to make clear that this is not our America. This has to stop.”

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt responded to Klobuchar’s comments in an X post on Saturday, saying federal agents should not be removed from Minnesota.

“We need illegal aliens and dangerous criminals out of Minnesota,” she wrote. “Democrats’ priorities are completely upside down. They will not keep the American people safe.”

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In office, Vice President J.D. Vance blamed “far-left agitators” for the recent unrest in Minneapolis.

“This level of engineering chaos is unique to Minneapolis,” he posted on X on Saturday evening. “It is the direct result of extreme left-wing agitators working with local authorities.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House for comment.

Jasmine Baher and Alex Nitzberg of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.