BBC:
Immigration agents have shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, sparking angry protests and condemnations.
Hundreds of demonstrators braved freezing weather to protest against the shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, during a confrontation on Saturday morning.
Multiple videos from the scene – taken from different angles – show the scuffle between federal immigration officers and Pretti.
Federal and state authorities have offered conflicting versions of what happened in the moments leading to the shooting, which took place less than three weeks after an agent killed Renee Good in her car in Minneapolis.
The Trump administration is characterising the moments leading up to Pretti’s death as an attack by him, claiming he approached officers with a handgun and, after he violently resisted attempts to disarm him, a border patrol agent fired in self defence.
But videos show no evidence to support the claim he used any armed force to threaten agents, instead showing him pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the ground and shot – after an agent appeared to remove a gun from the scuffle.
The Trump administration has described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist”. However, the Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz has described its account as “nonsense and lies.”
The shooting occurred on Saturday morning near Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street in south Minneapolis at 09:05 local time (15:05 GMT).
On Saturday night hundreds of people paid tribute to Pretti, lighting candles and chanting his name near the spot where he was shot.
During the day, hundreds of protesters showed their anger against the shooting and ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city, as armed and masked agents deployed tear gas and flashbang grenades.
Protests have spread to other US cities, with more than 1,000 demonstrators out in New York on Saturday, holding signs including “Justice for Alex” and “abolish ICE”. Hundreds also took part in a protests in Chicago,Los Angeles and San Francisco.
