Vice President JD Vance characterizes Minneapolis unrest as ‘engineered chaos’

Vice President J.D. Vance described the unrest in Minnesota as “orchestrated chaos” in the wake of another deadly shooting involving a federal agent over the weekend.

On Saturday, 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretty, a nurse in Minneapolis, was carrying a licensed handgun while protesting a federal ruling. Immigration enforcement processHe was shot and killed by a US Border Patrol agent. Authorities say Preeti resisted arrest after trying to interfere with the operation.

In response to the shooting, Vance accused “far-left agitators working with local authorities” of creating the conditions that led to the confrontation between Pretty and Border Patrol agents.

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“This level of engineering chaos is unique to Minneapolis. It is a direct result of far-left agitators working with local authorities,” Vance said in a post on X.

His comments come as a familiar network of far-left groups is mobilizing across the country, often rallying around disparate issues.

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In Minneapolis, unrest intensified after the shooting, prompting several local officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, to call on the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration to withdraw Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from the city.

Walz said in a post on X that he spoke with the White House “following another horrific shooting incident by federal agents this morning.”

“Minnesota got it,” Walz said. “This is disgusting. The president must end this operation. Remove thousands of violent and untrained officers from Minnesota. Now.”

“Minnesota believes in law and order. We believe in peace,” Walz said on Sunday, calling on Trump to withdraw “untrained agents” from the state.

But the White House was not keen to budge.

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt responded to local leadership calling for the withdrawal of federal law enforcement from Minnesota, writing on X that the focus should not be on removing officers but on removing “dangerous criminal illegal aliens” from the state.

“Democrats’ priorities are completely upside down. They will not keep the American people safe,” Leavitt wrote.

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Mourners gather at a makeshift memorial in the area where intensive care unit nurse Alex Pretty was shot to death the day before by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25, 2026. (Octavio Jones/AFP/Getty Images)

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said Pretty approached the agents armed with a 9mm handgun and two magazines and “resisted violently” when officers attempted to disarm him, prompting one of the agents to open fire.

However, local video footage and eyewitness accounts appear to show Pretty holding only his phone before he was pepper-sprayed and pinned to the ground, raising questions about the government’s account of the confrontation.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that she was saddened by Peretti’s family and pledged a thorough investigation.

“We cannot have individuals obstructing law enforcement operations and then showing up with rifles and weapons and no identification and confronting law enforcement in this manner,” Noem said. “That’s one of the reasons we see situations like this unfolding.”

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He was shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene. State officials later said Pretty had a legal permit to carry a firearm.

Minnesota Democrats rejected the White House’s characterization, saying the federal operation escalated tensions and put residents at risk, including those not targeted by immigration enforcement.