A senior U.S. immigration official defended the continuation of an enforcement mission in Minneapolis on Sunday, saying enforcing the law is a "duty." Tensions are high following the fatal shooting of nurse and U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by federal agents.
Greg Bovino, U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large, said: “Our Title 8 immigration mission continues, unabated here in Minneapolis despite yesterday’s tragedy that was preventable by folks making better choices; politicians, journalists, and would-be anarchists and rioters,”. The official spoke as part of a defence of operations by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol in Minnesota.
“Now enforcing the law is not a choice,” the official added, saying that officers “choose to be a Border Patrol agent” and ICE agents choose their roles, but enforcing laws enacted by Congress and upheld by the judiciary is a duty “whether that’s a Title 8 immigration law, whether that’s chasing a bank robber, or a spy or whatever else.”
The official also criticised politicians, community leaders and journalists who had “vilified law enforcement” in heated rhetoric, suggesting that such language contributed to recent confrontations. “When someone chooses to listen to that … there are consequences and actions there also – I think we saw that yesterday,” they said.
The comments come in the aftermath of heightened tension in Minneapolis over federal immigration enforcement. Alex Pretti, 37, was shot dead on 24 January by a federal agent.Public outrage and protests swiftly followed. Local officials, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have criticised the presence of ICE and other federal agents, demanding an end to the operation and greater transparency.
Labour leaders and unions have also weighed in, with calls for ICE to leave Minnesota and urging accountability following Pretti’s death.
State and federal officials have provided conflicting accounts of what happened.
The federal response has included legal moves to preserve evidence in the case, with a judge ordering the Department of Homeland Security to retain materials as investigations continue.
Federal authorities, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Homeland Security officials, have defended the actions of immigration agents and stressed that federal law enforcement has immunity when performing their duties. Local leaders, however, dispute federal narratives and have called for independent investigations into the use of force and broader enforcement tactics.
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Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Saudi Aramco has ordered staff to evacuate its headquarters amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Two people were killed in an attack on Dammam airport, while Iran's IRGC Navy claimed strikes on seven vessels and warned the U.S. of a wider response.
Russia is willing in principle to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in November, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Super typhoon Champi is set to batter Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from Friday (23 October), bringing violent winds, torrential rain and waves up to 11 metres high, as airlines cancel flights and organisers scrap a major festival.
If you tried to visit a government website in Europe on Wednesday and found it down, you weren’t alone. Agencies across the continent pulled their sites offline after serious security flaws were discovered in PHP, the programming language quietly running behind most of the world’s websites.
Israel has ordered security forces to seal off Hebron and prepare a full closure of the West Bank after a shooting near the city wounded at least five Israelis. Soldiers killed the two gunmen.
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday that 70,000 security forces would be mobilised throughout the country to keep order on Saturday, adding there have been calls for looting and violence from the ultra-left.
Missile and drone attacks have put Saudi Arabia on high alert, disrupting life in Riyadh and testing a new defence pact with Türkiye and Pakistan as regional tensions escalate.
Romanian authorities are searching for missing crew members following an incident involving a ship in the Black Sea. Romanian President Nicusor Dan attributed the incident to Russian escalation.
From Typhoon Champi in Taiwan and a deadly earthquake in Tibet to severe flooding across Europe and Latin America, communities on several continents have faced a week of devastating weather and natural disasters.
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