Minnesota National Guard has been activated and is now arriving in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti by a federal Border Patrol agent on Saturday morning, January 24, 2026.

Activation: Governor Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard at the request of Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Deployment: Guard units began arriving at the Whipple Federal Building in south Minneapolis around 4 p.m. Saturday, as confirmed by KARE 11 footage. Role: The Guard is supporting local law enforcement by relieving deputies assigned to crowd control, helping to secure the area, and protecting life and property during ongoing protests. Authority: The National Guard operates under state control and has the authority to make arrests for state-level crimes, though their primary role is to assist local police, not to enforce federal immigration law. Context: This follows a series of federal agent-involved shootings in Minneapolis, including the January 7 killing of Renee Good, prompting Walz to declare that the federal “Operation Metro Surge” has become a “campaign of organized brutality” against Minnesotans. The deployment is part of an emergency readiness posture, with 1,500 soldiers on standby and the Emergency Operations Center activated.