Minnesota Governor Tim Walz responded to the second killing of a U.S. citizen by federal agents executing President Trump’s “Operation Metro Surge” by asking the media and citizens to stop referring to the ICE and Border Patrol agents who’ve descended on Minneapolis as “law enforcement.” (Two U.S. citizens have been killed during the operation: Renée Good and Alex Pretti.)
In the aftermath of Pretti’s death, Walz castigated numerous Trump administration officials — including “the most powerful people in federal government” — for deliberately promoting false narratives about events on the ground in his state, and for “spinning stories and putting up pictures of unrelated people who we don’t know anything about.”
(NOTE: Walz previously expressed concerns, after Good’s killing, that those charged with investigating the event at the federal level had publicly stated their conclusions, which exonerated ICE, before examining the evidence.)
Today, DHS law enforcement was conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) January 24, 2026
During the operation, an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm the… pic.twitter.com/i0bsQY3i5O
Contending that the facts were being compromised by pro-Trump forces, and expressing a no-confidence vote on Trump himself doing the “right thing,” Walz directly targeted what he characterized as the most essential lie underlying the federal actions — that the forces sent by Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem are in Minneapolis to enforce the law.
“Quit referring to these people as law enforcement,” Walz pleaded. “They’re not law enforcement. We have law enforcement who do an incredible job. And to listen to [border patrol chief] Greg Bovino denigrate the work of our people who are out there cleaning up their mess, no, I don’t have a lot of confidence that he himself will do it.”
Walz also characterized the second killing of an American citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis as an inflection point politically, expressing confidence that the deployment and actions of the federal forces in his state is broadly viewed as wrong and anti-American by a majority of voters.
Based on that belief, Walz predicted: “Here’s what I do have confidence in. There’s a whole lot of Republicans for whatever reasons cannot find their spine. But they might find the ability to know that they’re not going to win another election as long as they live, unless they stand up for what’s right, stand up for the rule of law, and stand up for human decency.”
Walz’s characterization of the narrative being manipulated by federal government actors is supported by many major news outlets, with the New York Times top headline on Sunday reading: ‘Videos Contradict Federal Accounts of Fatal Shooting.’
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a high-profile Trump critic expected to run for President in 2028, concurred with Walz’s conclusions and called for Noem’s resignation and the demilitarization of ICE.
No new funding.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 25, 2026
Kristi Noem must RESIGN.
Greg Bovino must be FIRED.
Suspend the LAWLESS mass deportation raids nationwide NOW — ICE is no longer just deporting dangerous criminals.
Send the border patrol back to the border.
End the militarization of ICE + the sick racial…
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