Minneapolis —
“Someone’s going to get killed.”
The warning, from an agent of the federal Homeland Security Investigations division, sent a chill through the other officials in the room.
It was early January 2026. The HSI agent explained how the team was afraid about what was coming, about what seemed preordained as the Trump administration sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Customs and Border Protection officers, Border Patrol agents and controversial Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino into Minneapolis for what the administration called Operation Metro Surge.
You don’t understand, Homeland Security officials had been trying to explain to local prosecutors and other officials. Border Patrol — these guys are not the right people to be doing immigration raids in a city. They’re used to standing alone at the southern border, no backup for 50 miles, thinking of themselves as the last line of defense. They get away with a lot. This is going to get ugly.
The HSI agent’s fears about the unprecedented surge of DHS personnel proved prophetic. The deaths of Renee Good on Wednesday, January 7, and Alex Pretti on Saturday, January 24, at the hands of federal immigration agents, followed soon after.
This is the story of the 18 days between the killing of Good and Pretti, the highly questionable ways the Trump administration handled immigration enforcement and the shootings, and the atmosphere of aggression and mendacity that continues to mark its...
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