The Minnesota National Guard has been mobilized in response to escalating unrest in Minneapolis, which reignited on Saturday morning when an anti-ICE agitator was shot and killed after pulling a gun while scuffling with agents.
Walz confirmed the mobilization during a press conference a few hours after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis’ Whittier section. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that Pretti was armed when he interfered with an immigration enforcement operation targeting an illegal alien wanted for violent assault.
Footage of the incident shows Pretti struggling with officers before a shot rang out, which appeared to have been fired by Pretti himself. Agents then returned fire, striking the anti-ICE agitator multiple times.
Emergency crews attempted to provide life-saving aid on the scene, but Pretti was pronounced dead not long after.
Looks like the deceased fired first https://t.co/YsOoSf9Uti
— Scott Greer 6’2” IQ 187 (@ScottMGreer) January 24, 2026
In response to the shooting, a large crowd of leftist agitators and rioters, including Antifa militants, descended on the scene. A small group of Minneapolis Police officers and federal agents were seen clashing with the crowd before giving an order to disperse.
The crowd continued to grow, however, while rioters set up barricades near the scene of the shooting. The unrest is ongoing as of 3:45 p.m. local time, with the crowd numbering at least a couple thousand, according to footage from the scene.
🚨360: View from atop a cluster of dumpsters gathered from local stores as organic protest forms. Hundreds of people are starting to riot
📍26th & Nicolette
Pray for Minneapolis tonight
Follow @ Human Events pic.twitter.com/jvnRT3786v
— Kev Posobiec (@KevinPosobiec) January 24, 2026
Governor Walz confirmed that the Minnesota National Guard was being mobilized to assist local law enforcement with possible riot control on Saturday afternoon. “I’ve issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard. We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary. I remind you, a warning order is a heads up for folks,” he said.
Brigadier General Simon Schaefer of the Minnesota National Guard stressed that a full deployment has not yet been made, but added that thousands of troops were being readied. “I’ve issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard. We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary. I remind you, a warning order is a heads up for folks,” he said.
When asked what the Guard was doing as of now, Schaefer acknowledged that troops have been on standby for several days. “So we have a request from the Hennepin County Sheriff to support them and that is to help them free up additional resources for other work that they need to do and and we were have started coordinating with them this morning on that,” he said.
“And that first area of support will be assisting them with their requirement to provide security to the Whipple building,” he added, referring to the main federal immigration headquarters in the Twin Cities region.
At the federal level, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that additional federal personnel will be deploying to the region in order to assist with operations and protect federal agents. More than 2,000 immigration agents have already been deployed to the Twin Cities as part of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump Administration’s name for what they have billed as the largest concentrated immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history.
