United States President Donald Trump on Friday, 30 January 2026, described a man who was shot and killed by United States federal agents in Minneapolis, a major city in the Midwestern state of Minnesota, as an “agitator” and possibly an “insurrectionist,” after a video linked to the case circulated online.
Trump made the comments in a post on Truth Social, a social media platform he uses frequently for public statements. Okay News reports that he was reacting to footage said to show the man, identified as Alex Pretti, in a confrontation with federal officials days before the fatal shooting.
In his post, Trump said the video showed Pretti “screaming and spitting” at a “very calm and under control” officer from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency that enforces immigration laws and carries out deportations.
The United States president suggested that the newly released video undermined sympathy for Pretti, saying the man’s “stock has gone way down” following the footage.
The incident Trump referred to was described as a scuffle involving federal agents that reportedly happened about 11 days before Pretti was shot and killed in Minneapolis last week.
