Protesters gather in Durham after latest Minnesota shooting by federal officers :: WRAL.com

Several groups gathered and marched in downtown Durham on Saturday to protest the latest shooting in Minnesota of a resident by federal officers.

Groups — including The Party for Socialism and Liberation, Durham Defenders for Democracy, NC5051, Durham Youth Activist, Nuestro Barrio Liberation Cafe — began gathering at 4:30 p.m. at CCB Plaza and marched for an hour and a half. The crowd of several dozen, chanting and marching just ahead of a predicted ice storm, called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“ICE is trying to intimidate us, the regime is trying to intimidate us,” said protester Kathryn Pollack.

Federal officers shot and killed a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, according to a hospital record obtained by the Associated Press. He was later identified as Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse.

Minneapolis Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said in a social media post that he had been in contact with the White House after the shooting. He called on President Donald Trump to end the crackdown in his state. The details surrounding the shooting weren’t immediately clear.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told The Associated Press in a text messages that person had a firearm with two magazines.

Later, after a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor wrote on social media that “there is a high likelihood [law enforcement] will be legally justified in shooting” anyone who they see with a gun, the National Rifle Associate responded that that claim “is dangerous and wrong. Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told the Associated Press that local police believe Pretti was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.” 

The shooting came amid widespread daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good.

As protesters of the shooting demonstrated in Minnesota, other groups planned vigils and demonstrations across the nation.

The Minnesota National Guard, which had been activated earlier by Walz, was assisting local police amid growing protests. Guard troops were going to both to the shooting site and to a federal building where officials have squared off with protesters daily.

In announcement of the demonstration, the groups in Durham said they are demanding “an end to ICE terror on our communities,” calling Saturday’s shooting of the 37-year-old Pretti an “execution.”

Bystander video available of the shooting Saturday. It shows multiple masked agents and a man shoving each others. More agents surround the man and wrestle him to the ground. Some  have guns drawn. You can’t see whether the man has a weapon. Someone says “stop kicking him in the face.” 

There is a single shot, then three more. Agents move away from the man, who is on the ground. One agent, backing away, fires an additional four shots.

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino says an officer “was fearing for his life.”

“During this operation, an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun,” Bovino said. “The agents attempted to disarm the individual but he violently resisted… The suspect also had two loaded magazines and no assessable I.D.”

He continued. “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

Many local and federal government leaders called for an investigation.

“A full, transparent investigation must take place,” North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein wrote on Facebook. “The job of law enforcement is to keep people safe. It’s past time for the violence the stop.”

Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, Pretti was an intensive care nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

Pretti was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He had participated in protests following the killing of Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs officer on Jan. 7.