January 25, 2026

Here's the New York Times liveblog of the major storm that is moving across the country and will begin to hit the Northeast today. From the pinned item: “The system’s dangerous mix of ice, heavy snow and bitter cold could halt transit, knock out parts of the power grid and leave millions of Americans stuck inside for days. On Saturday, it brought rare heavy snow to places like Dallas and Nashville. A winter storm warning was in effect early Sunday for more than 140 million people from New Mexico to Maine. Up to a foot and half of snow is forecast to fall in some areas of New England through Monday, the National Weather Service said in a forecast.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the Washington Post's liveblog of storm developments. 

Michael Biesecker, et al., of the AP: “Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by ... Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer.... As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.”

Rylee Kirk of the New York Times writes a summary article of what is known about federal agents' fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti of Minnesota.  

Samuel Oakford, et al., of the Washington Post: “Federal agents who were wrestling a man to the ground in Minneapolis early Saturday secured a handgun he was carrying moments before shooting him multiple times, according to a Washington Post analysis of videos that captured the incident from several angles. As many as eight agents were attempting to detain Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, videos show. One emerged from the scrum holding Pretti’s gun, and less than a second later, the first of what appear to be 10 shots was fired. It is not clear from the video whether the other agents realized Pretti — who local authorities believe had a permit to carry the weapon — had been disarmed.” MB: This is the same conclusion New York Times analysts reached yesterday, in an article by Devon Lum & Haley Willis, linked below. The analyses refute the Trump administration's statements.

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “A doctor who lives near the scene where Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday described in a sworn court filing how agents initially hesitated and asked for proof of a medical license when the doctor tried to approach and render aid. And a person who said they were standing near Mr. Pretti disputed the Department of Homeland Security’s account of that incident in another sworn court filing.” Smith describes the content of their sworn statements. ~~~

     ~~~ Here is a reproduction of the statement from the second witness, via the New York Times.  

Bora Erden, et al., of the New York Times lay out a timeline, with stills from the bystander videos, that covers the multiple shootings of Alex Pretti as well as the moments before and after federal agents fired those shots. 

Jonathan Last of the Bulwark adds some details and some observations: "One agent appears to pistol whip Pretti about the head.... At least some of the DHS agents involved in the killing attempted to leave the scene. When local law enforcement arrived to begin an investigation, the DHS agents attempted to send them away and deny them access to the crime scene. Someone — presumably within DHS — leaked to Fox that Pretti had a gun.... There is no evidence to suggest that Pretti brandished—or even touched—his weapon.... The government didn’t just use masked, armed, unidentified agents of the state to execute a citizen on the street, in broad daylight and in front of dozens of witnesses — it lied about the victim and what happened in the most brazen manner possible. The government killed him. Then it smeared him.... The murder of Alex Jeffrey Pretti was not a mistake, or a tragedy, or a misunderstanding. It was a choice. The president of the United States and his regime saw what its masked agents had done to Renee Good and decided to do more of it, at a larger scale. Killing Alex Jeffrey Pretti was the Trump administration’s policy." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Elsewhere I read that the agent used a tear-gas canister to beat Pretti. This obviously is not the way you subdue a person, especially when there are six or seven agents doing the subduing of one individual.  

Marianne Levine & Brianna Sacks of the Washington Post: “In the year since [Kristi] Noem left her post as South Dakota’s governor to lead the Department of Homeland Security, the agency has dramatically transformed in ways that are increasingly visible to the American public.... Homeland Security’s sprawling deportation campaign is a marked departure from the agency’s focus after its founding in the aftermath of Sept. 11. The department was created to protect the nation against foreign terrorists and work closely with federal and local agencies.... When DHS was founded, 22 federal departments and agencies were combined, with the idea that enhanced coordination could help thwart another attack.... Under Noem’s leadership, the agency has moved its focus to immigration enforcement — pulling and cutting resources from other operations....

“Corey Lewandowski, Noem’s top aide and Trump’s former campaign manager, plays an influential role in many key decisions at DHS, including reviewing contracts that exceed $100,000. His background is heavier on politics and lobbying than law enforcement, and his status as a special government employee has raised ethical concerns. ”  

Ben Johansen, et al., of Politico: “Just hours after federal agents shot and killed a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis, Trump administration officials called the deceased a 'would-be assassin' and blamed Democrats for siding with 'terrorists.' Democrats, meanwhile, renewed calls for Minnesota officials to investigate the shooting and characterized the president’s immigration actions as 'a campaign of organized brutality.'”

Sophie Brams of the Hill: Donald “Trump defended the presence of federal law enforcement agents in Minnesota following another deadly shooting on Saturday, tying the latest incident to an ongoing massive fraud investigation in the state.... Trump shared an image of the pistol allegedly confiscated from the victim in a Truth Social post, writing: 'This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!) and ready to go.' 'What is that all about? Where are the local Police Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE officers? The Mayor and Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves...,' Trump continued. He went on to claim there was a coordinated 'cover up' to distract from tens of billions of dollars being stolen from the state, further accusing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) of 'inciting Insurrection.'”

Gary Grumbach & Dennis Romero of NBC News: "A federal judge in Minnesota has blocked the Trump administration from 'destroying or altering evidence' related to today's fatal shooting of Pretti. The ruling comes after Minnesota state officials filed a lawsuit in Minnesota’s U.S. District Court against officials with the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies seeking a temporary restraining order that would prohibit federal officials from destroying evidence." This is part of an item in a liveblog.

     ~~~ Marie: One of the many failures of federal agents in the murder of Alex Pretti is their failure to secure the crime scene. I know I watch too many police procedurals & most present an unrealistic picture of how law enforcement actually processes a crime scene. But these CBP guys did nothing to secure the scene. Some of the masked men scurried away -- you know, the way masked criminals do. Witness statements? Ha ha ha. And what about that gun sitting in some car? Is there a chain of custody? How did the gun get from Pretti's belt to the seat of some vehicle? What vehicle? Is the gun even Alex Pretti's? Who knows? Why did these guys do nothing to follow ordinary police procedures? I think it's because they knew they were going to get away with murder. They're criminals, and so is everybody all the way up the chain of command, right to the tippy-top.   

Riley Beggin of the Washington Post: “Senate Democrats plan to block a sweeping government funding package after U.S. Border Patrol agents killed a man in Minneapolis on Saturday — increasing the likelihood of another shutdown at the end of the week.... Democrats said they could not vote for legislation to continue U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s funding without changes to how the agency operates.” A Politico story is here.

M. Gessen of the New York Times: “...  the Trump administration seeks ... to reduce us all to a state of constant fear — a fear of violence from which some people may at a given moment be spared, but from which no one will ever be truly safe. That is our new national reality. State terror has arrived.... [Donald]Trump is using all the [traditional] instruments [of state terror]: the reported quotas for ICE arrests; the paramilitary force made up of thugs drunk on their own brutality; the spectacle of random violence, particularly in city streets; the postmortem vilification of the victims.” The link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. 

Marie: Following is a partial reproduction of reports & opinions I linked after 10:30 am ET yesterday & throughout the day. 

⭐Devon Lum & Haley Willis of the New York Times analyze some videos that cover the execution of Minnesotan Alex Pretti: “An agent begins shoving the demonstrators, and squirts pepper spray at their faces. At this moment, Mr. Pretti has both hands clearly visible. One is holding his phone, while he holds the other up to protect himself from pepper spray. He moves to help one of the protesters who was sprayed, as other agents approach and pull him from behind. Several agents tussle with Mr. Pretti before bringing him to his knees. He appears to resist as the agents grab his legs, push down on his back and strike him repeatedly. The footage shows an agent approaching with empty hands and grabbing at Mr. Pretti as the others hold him down. About eight seconds after he is pinned, agents yell that he has a gun, indicating that they may not have known he was armed until he was on the ground.

“The same agent who approached with empty hands pulls a gun from among the group that appears to match the profile of a firearm DHS said belonged to Mr. Pretti. The agents appear to have him under their control, with his arms pinned near his head. As the gun emerges from the melee, another agent aims his own firearm at Mr. Pretti’s back and appears to fire one shot at close range. He then appears to continue firing at Mr. Pretti, who collapses. A third agent unholsters a weapon. Both agents appear to fire additional shots into Mr. Pretti as he lies motionless. In total, at least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds.” (Also linked yesterday.) Update: the link has been changed t one that appears to be a gift link.

The DHS issued a statement shortly after the shooting. The statement is here. According to the DHS statement, "an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement." Tim Miller of the Bulwark also said that Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse at the VA. Anything is possible, but an ICU nurse doesn't sound like a person one would immediately tag as a domestic terrorist intent upon massacring law enforcement personnel. (Also linked yesterday) ~~~

     ~~~ ⭐Marie: Digby has linked to several bystander videos including the slo-mo video referenced in Update 2. I couldn't get any of Digby's videos to play, either on her site or on X. Read her whole post, which includes commentary from writers who posted the videos. After viewing the videos, Digby wrote, 

"It’s clear the man was on his knees with his hands on the ground. An ICE agent saw the gun in his back waistband (which he was legally carrying.) The agent with the gun moves away and for some reason another agent shot the protester, backed up and shot his dead body numerous times.... When you add this to the video of him taken before the murder, directing traffic with his phone in his hand, being rousted by agents (again with just his phone in his hand) then being beaten and shot, there can be no doubt that this was an execution." (Also linked yesterday) ~~~

~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link. We'll be learning a lot more, but there is no question that DHS lied in its official statement, that Kristi Noem & Greg Bovino in their news conferences, and that Donald Trump lied in a tweet. Digby is right: "This was an execution." That is where we are in the United States of Trump: federal agents execute a nurse in broad daylight because he was exercising his First and Second Amendment rights -- and the government covers up the murder and blames the victim. 

Heather Cox Richardson, who is a very good explainer, lays out what we know so far about the execution of Alex Pretti. Her summary conforms with what we've concluded here. But she adds context. The only place I would disagree with her are toward the end where she suggests some possible solutions. They aren't wrong -- they're positive ideas -- but I don't know that any of them would work. Still, if you want a concise but thorough summary of what-all has happened, this is it. (Also embedded yesterday): ~~~

⭐Marie: The Minnesota Star Tribune liveblog is the first report I linked yesterday. RAS had linked it in the Comments: “A man was shot and killed by federal agents in south Minneapolis this morning, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said. Video shows several agents wrestling the man to the ground and shooting him multiple times....

Update: “Two people familiar with the incident told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the man was Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37.”

Update 2: “Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement... 'On Monday, my office and I will be in court arguing to end this illegal and unconstitutional occupation of our cities and the terror and violence it’s inflicting.... This must stop. Now.' Ellison sued, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, over the surge earlier this month.”

     ~~~ Yesterday's New York Times liveblog is here. From the pinned item: “... video circulating on social media and verified by The New York Times appears to show it from a distance. In the footage, several people, apparently federal agents, are seen holding a person down on the sidewalk while at least one officer strikes the person with an object. An apparent gunshot is heard, and several more appear to follow. The agents scatter, and a person falls to the ground.... Dozens of protesters at the site blew whistles and angrily demanded that police officers arrest the federal agents. In response, law enforcement officials deployed tear gas and flash bangs to try to disperse the crowd.... Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, a Democrat, said on social media that he had spoken to the White House about the shooting.... Mary Moriarty, the elected prosecutor in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, said that the 'scene must be secured by local law enforcement for preservation of evidence.'”~~~

Mitch Smith: “Chief Brian O’Hara of the Minneapolis police said his department learned of the shooting just after 9 a.m. He said the person who was shot is believed to be a 37-year-old man who lived in Minneapolis and was an American citizen.... Chief O’Hara said officials had identified the person who was killed. He said that person was believed to have a permit to carry a gun.” 

⭐Devon Lum: “Videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning. The Department of Homeland Security said the episode began after a man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and they tried to disarm him. But footage from the scene shows the man was holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, when federal agents took him to the ground and shot him.”

Katie Rogers & Hamed Aleaziz: Donald “Trump moved swiftly on Saturday to try to shift the blame for another shooting death in Minneapolis away from the federal agents involved in the incident, claiming instead that it was the result of inflammatory rhetoric by local officials and the victim himself. Members of Mr. Trump’s administration also quickly labeled the man, whom Minneapolis police said was 37 years old and an American citizen, as a 'domestic terrorist' and a would-be-assassin hours after the morning shooting, before all the facts were yet known or an investigation could take place.”   

Hamed Aleaziz: “A U.S. official says that the Department of Homeland Security is investigating the shooting incident with the assistance of the F.B.I.” [MB: Right. The same people who have already blamed Mr. Pretti for his own murder & have labeled him a domestic terrorist bent on massacring DHS agents.]

[Marie: IOW, DHS has now added the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights amendments they have previously violated: First, Fourth, Sixth (and as Heather Cox Richardson pointed out in the linked "letter," the Fourteenth Amendment, which is not part of the Bill of Rights).] 

Ernesto Londoño: “Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said the Department of Homeland Security blocked state agents from the scene of Saturday’s shooting. Evans said his agency took the rare step of obtaining a search warrant to access the — the shooting happened on a street — but that has not yet yielded the access to evidence his investigators need.... Superintendent Evans said federal officials have refused to disclose the identities of federal agents involved in Saturday’s shooting, as well as the names of federal agents who have shot people in recent days in the course of the continuing immigration crackdown.”

Ernesto Londoño: “Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city will be asking a federal judge to order an end to the immigration crackdown immediately. The city is a plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking an end to the federal operation and the parties have a court hearing scheduled on Monday.” [MB: I think this is the same suit Minnesota AG Keith Ellison referred to in the item in the Star Tribune liveblog linked above.]

Hamed Aleaziz: “Kristi Noem called the victim of the shooting a domestic terrorist. 'This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism,' she said. 'That’s the facts.' Earlier in the day, Stephen Miller has described the man as a domestic terrorist as well.... Noem ... continues to say at her news conference that she knew the intent of the individual killed by D.H.S. officers on Saturday. 'The facts of this situation: this individual showed up to an law enforcement operation with a weapon and dozens of rounds of ammunition,' she said. 'He wasn’t there to peacefully protest.' There is no evidence, as of yet, about the motives of the man, Alex Pretti.... Now, two high-ranking D.H.S. officials have made sweeping comments on the shooting, saying the man who died intended to kill federal agents.” DHS is the agency that will “investigate” the murder. [MB: It is not just ICE Barbie's face that is broken.]

Rylee Kirk: “Gov. Janet Mills of Maine has requested a meeting with ... [Donald] Trump to ask him to remove federal immigration agents from her state after a second fatal shooting by federal officers in Minnesota. Immigration agents started focusing on Maine this week....”

Catie Edmondson: “Senator Chuck Schumer of New York..., said in a statement that Senate Democrats would vote to block a bipartisan spending package that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and other parts of the government. The Senate is set to take up the measure, which includes $10 billion for ICE, ahead of a shutdown deadline at the end of January.” 

Following are some items and excerpts of items in the liveblog I've republished only today: 

Michael Gold: “Hours after the Pretti shooting, Representative Andrew Garbarino, Republican of New York and the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, formally requested that the heads of ICE, Customs and Border Patrol, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services testify at a full hearing. Republicans have been generally supportive of the Trump administration’s immigration policies and have conducted few formal oversight efforts.” 

Ernesto Londoño: “Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Saturday, blaming him and other Democratic elected officials for allowing 'lawlessness.' In the letter, Bondi demanded that state officials turn over records of welfare recipients; that local officials  'repeal sanctuary policies;' and that the state turn over voter records to the Department of Justice.... It was uncertain whether the letter was sent before or after the shooting.”

[The letter is here, via the NYT.]  

Danny Hakim & Thomas Gibbons-Neff: “Some high-profile gun rights activists and groups bristled on Saturday at government officials’ claims that federal agents may have been justified in killing a Minneapolis man during a protest because he was carrying a pistol.... The gun group also accused 'the Left' of 'antagonizing' immigration agents. The exchange could point to political fissures between the gun rights movement and President Trump, who is generally seen as an ally. And it already is sparking debate within a movement that has long warned against government overreach.”

Mitch Smith: “Lawyers for the state of Minnesota, as well as the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, renewed their calls on Saturday night for a federal judge to temporarily block the surge in immigration enforcement. A hearing on that case is scheduled for Monday.” 

     ~~~ Democracy Docket has more on Pam Bondi's letter to Walz, but does not reproduce a copy of the letter. Politico has more on efforts to rein in Trump goons via the legal system.

~~~ Marie: Here is the first bystander video that was published on social media & was carried on news reports:

There are times even humor cannot save us. This is one of those times: ~~~

~~~ Rebecca Schoenkopf, the editor of Wonkette, holds the posts written by her staff Friday for weekend publication. “Sometimes ... horrible things happen on the weekend, and 'funny thing about the Labor Secretary’s alleged affair' doesn’t feel appropriate. Maybe I’ll post some of them tomorrow, or maybe they’ll wait until Monday.... Today, ICE killed another neighbor.” (Also linked yesterday)

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Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “A federal appeals court on Friday turned down an extraordinary request from the Justice Department to force a judge [-- Patrick J. Schiltz — a George W. Bush appointee --] to issue arrest warrants for Don Lemon, the journalist, and four other people in connection with a church protest in Minneapolis last week. The department’s unusual petition, which was unsealed on Saturday along with other documents arising from the case, was a remarkably aggressive attempt by the Trump administration to strong-arm judges into doing its bidding. It prompted an equally remarkable pushback from the conservative chief federal judge in Minnesota, who called the petition 'frivolous' and categorically rejected the administration’s efforts to depict its need for the warrants as what he described as a 'national security emergency.' The dispute also shows the boundary-pushing lengths to which Trump administration officials are willing to go in their efforts to crack down on what they see as criticism of the president’s aggressive immigration measures.” Read on. Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Steve Vladeck: In a pair of letters, Judge Patrick J. Schiltz responded to an extraordinary (in multiple senses of the word) attempt by the Department of Justice to end-run long-settled understandings of basic criminal procedure in order to bring federal criminal charges against individuals who protested inside a St. Paul church last Sunday.... One hopes, if nothing else, that these letters will give Judge Schiltz’s fellow judges (and especially appellate judges — including Schiltz’s colleagues on the Eighth Circuit) a moment of pause before acquiescing in any similar attempts by the Trump administration to strong-arm district courts.

You Are What You Wear. “Enclothed Cognition.” Derek Guy, a mensware writer, “deconstructs” Greg Bovino's “Nazi coat” for Politico Magazine: “... while Bovino’s coat shares visual similarities with certain Nazi uniforms — including the German M40 overcoat worn by Kriegsmarine officers — it belongs to a much broader lineage. The double-breasted closure, metal buttons and Ulster collar are hallmarks of the greatcoat, a 19th-century form of outerwear worn by soldiers from many different nations.... The greatcoat belongs to a shared military vocabulary that predates fascism and has been used by military forces around the world.... Bovino’s coat may not be a Hitlerian symbol, but it is a symbol for something else: the increasing militarization of immigration enforcement.... Over the last century, the evolution of dress in immigration enforcement tells a story of how such agencies have become militarized.... By dressing immigration enforcement officials in battle-ready attire, the agency encourages agents to understand themselves not as civil servants carrying out administrative law, but as frontline combatants operating in hostile terrain.... When a domestic agency dresses for war, it risks acting as if it is at war, even with the public. Clothing alone does not determine conduct, but it can help shape a worldview in which violent confrontation is more likely.” (Also linked yesterday)

From the “Nero Fiddles” File. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Saturday night hosted a private screening of 'Melania,' a new documentary about the first lady, according to the White House’s public calendar — drawing criticism from Democrats who questioned the president’s priorities hours after another fatal shooting in Minneapolis upended domestic politics and raised the possibility of a government shutdown.... Some Democrats further criticized Trump for hosting a film screening at the White House as a major winter storm is menacing much of the country.... The screening, which was scheduled before the shooting, was not made available to the White House press pool.... The documentary is being released by Amazon MGM Studios, which reportedly paid $40 million for its rights.... Puck News reported Friday that Amazon is spending an additional $35 million to help promote the film.”

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: “The Trump administration will expand the 'Mexico City rule,' which bars recipients of United States foreign aid from promoting abortion, to include a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion policies or 'radical gender ideologies,' Vice President JD Vance announced on Friday. Mr. Vance made the announcement, which had been expected, during a speech at the annual March for Life in Washington. The policy change is the Trump administration’s latest attack on what President Trump and his aides call 'woke ideology' at home and abroad. It could affect more than $30 billion in foreign assistance. Mr. Vance said that the change would cover all U.S. nonmilitary assistance to other nations.”

Jin Yu Young of the New York Times: “Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Democrat of Florida, was hit in the face by a man who told the lawmaker that he would be deported at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, over the weekend.... The police arrested [the alleged assailant Christian] Young and booked him into the Summit County Jail on charges of aggravated burglary and two counts of simple assault.”  

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Maine Senate Race. Patrick Marley, et al., of the Washington Post: “The surge of federal immigration agents into Maine has put the Senate’s most vulnerable Republican, Susan Collins, on the defensive — and in avoidance mode — as she fends off attacks from two Democratic challengers who say she needs to stand up to ... Donald Trump.... As she faces reelection this fall, her state is contending with federal officers arresting people in the streets and potentially sparking the kinds of viral confrontations and controversies that have exploded in Minnesota and elsewhere.... Collins didn’t say whether she supported Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents flooding the streets of Portland and Lewiston. Gov. Janet Mills (D), who announced her run for the Senate in October, called for withholding ICE’s funding until it changes its tactics. Mills’s primary opponent, oyster farmer Graham Platner, said he would join protesters in the streets and called for Mills to direct Maine law enforcement to follow ICE agents.”