Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher on Murder of Alex Pretti by Federal Agents in Minneapolis

Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) released the following statement after a Border Patrol agent killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, January 24. The shooting comes less than three weeks after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents killed Renee Good in Minneapolis.

"People across the country and around the world witnessed agents of the United States government brutally kill an American citizen exercising his constitutional rights in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the second time in less than three weeks. It is unacceptable, unconscionable, and un-American.

"My heart is with Alex Pretti's family and friends and the brave people of Minnesota who are mourning and who are continuing to fight their community, for our country, and for our Constitution, as Alex Pretti was when he was tackled, restrained, and shot to death.

"There can be no justification, no explanation, no interpretation that supports the actions of the Customs and Border Patrol agents in that moment. We all saw what happened.

"What there can be is mobilization by people across this country-of all political affiliations or no affiliation at all-to put an end to the occupation of cities and states in this country and the lawlessness of the Trump administration.

"The rights and freedoms our founders enshrined in the Constitution, the ones that generations of Americans have fought and died to secure, are under assault from an administration that believes it will not be held to account.

"Americans can prove them wrong. The Congress must act. The courts must act. The citizens must act. That is what American democracy is all about. It is what this moment calls for. And it is what we stand to lose if we do not.

"Today, I added my name to the resolution to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. A former member of Congress and former Governor, Secretary Noem should know that the rights of the people are paramount. Secretary Noem has failed to protect the American people, and she has put them in danger: escalating violence, facilitating lawlessness, and enabling the brutal occupation of American cities.

"This week, I voted against continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security, despite the important work the Department was established to do and the good work of many of the men and women who serve honorably through its agencies. I did so because we cannot let the abuses continue. I call on members of the United States Senate to do the same-Republicans and Democrats alike. This Department of Homeland Security is making Americans less safe.

"I also call on Congress to rescind the $75 billion in funding that Congressional Republicans directed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, and to do much more to investigate, conduct oversight, and reign in the abuses we have seen throughout the Trump administration and at the same time to protect the fundamental rights and liberties that have defined the United States of America for 250 years. There is no time to wait.

"I will continue to do all I can in Washington. And I call on Governor Abbott to do so in Texas; to join governors from across the country in denouncing the killing of and violence against American citizens in Minneapolis, calling for transparency and accountability into this federal agent-involved shooting, and unequivocally stating that the federal government's dangerous and reckless actions in our cities and states must come to an end. Texans expect and deserve this from our governor."