US bishops urge ‘respect for life’ as anger swells over ICE killings in Minneapolis

US Catholic bishops have urged restraint, peace, and respect for human life after federal immigration agents shot and killed two American citizens in Minneapolis this month.

The latest killing occurred on Saturday, when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti during an encounter on a Minneapolis street.

ICE later alleged Pretti was armed and intervened as agents approached a woman. But footage captured at the scene tells a sharply different story: Pretti is seen holding a phone, not a gun, as he appears to assist other demonstrators moments before being shot.

Local authorities also confirmed that Pretti, who was a nurse, held a valid permit to carry a handgun in public and that his firearm was legally registered.

Pretti’s death heightened tensions in the US  city, where fear and anger were already running high following the killing of 37‑year‑old mother Renee Good by a federal immigration agent just weeks earlier.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis on Sunday, and several vigils were held for Pretti over the weekend.

On Sunday, Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Archbishop of Minneapolis, called for prayers for Pretti and his loved ones, and described “our undocumented neighbors” as brothers and sisters, amid US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“The loss of another life amidst the tensions that have gripped Minnesota should prompt all of us to ask what we can do to restore the Lord’s peace,” said Archbishop Hebda.

“While we rightly thirst for God’s justice and hunger for his peace, this will be not be achieved until we are able to rid our hearts of the hatreds and prejudices that prevent us from seeing each other as brothers and sisters,” he added.

US officials defend fatal shooting as video contradicts government statement

Federal officials in the Trump administration defend the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti despite video evidence showing contradictions in the official narrative.

Archbishop Paul Coakley, President of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference, urged Americans to come together in dialogue and turn away from “dehumanizing rhetoric and acts which threaten human life.”

“I prayerfully urge calm, restraint, and respect for human life in Minneapolis, and all those places where peace is threatened,” Coakley said in a statement released on Sunday.

He stressed that “Public authorities especially have a responsibility to safeguard the well-being of people in service to the common good.”

Amid the heightened tensions, a federal court hearing is scheduled for Monday in a case that could temporarily halt the government’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, the enforcement actions that have led to the fatal shootings of Pretti and Renee Good.

Earlier this month, Minnesota sued the Department of Homeland Security, seeking to restore the number of federal law enforcement agents in the state to levels that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge in December 2025.

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