The shooting and killing of a 37-year-old man by federal immigration officers in Minnesota over the weekend has spurred condemnation from politicians across the country, including Colorado lawmakers. 

Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse whose parents live in Colorado, was shot multiple times by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on Jan. 24 during an immigration operation in Minneapolis. 

Pretti’s parents said their son was upset with President Donald Trump’s immigration tactics. Pretti had taken part in protests after the killing of Renee Good, who was shot by a federal immigration officer on Jan. 7, just over a mile away from where Pretti was killed. Good also had ties to Colorado. 

Democrats in Congress were quick to express outrage over the shooting as some top Trump administration officials sought to cast blame on Pretti, who they called a “domestic terrorist.” 

“Sickening. Abhorrent. Lawless,” wrote Rep. Joe Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat, in a Jan. 24 post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Neguse’s 2nd Congressional District spans parts of the Front Range and central and northern mountains, and includes Eagle, Summit, Grand and Routt counties. 

Federal officials said Pretti approached immigration officers with a handgun before he was shot. Pretti had a concealed carry permit, but bystander videos analyzed by news outlets do not show Pretti holding a gun before he is shot. 

Trump officials also blamed Democratic leaders in Minnesota, including Gov. Tim Walz, for increasing tensions with federal agents amid immigration operations. Some Republicans, however, distanced themselves from that rhetoric, with some calling for an independent investigation into the shooting. 

In a statement on Monday on X, Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction Republican, called Pretti’s shooting “a serious incident that warrants a full, independent, and transparent investigation before conclusions are drawn.”

“At moments like this, restraint and sober judgment matter,” Hurd said. “People have a constitutional right to peacefully assemble and express their views, and to exercise their individual Second Amendment rights. Federal, state, and local law enforcement share a responsibility to work cooperatively to enforce the law, maintain public safety, and protect constitutional rights. Those principles should guide our response as the facts are established.”

Hurd’s 3rd Congressional District encompasses much of western and southern Colorado, and includes Garfield, Pitkin and Moffat counties. 

Trump said on Tuesday that a “big investigation” had been launched and called Pretti’s death “very sad.” 

“I want a very honorable and honest investigation,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I have to see it myself.”

Shooting hangs over ICE funding bill

Pretti’s shooting has fueled opposition from congressional Democrats to a budget bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Customs and Border Protection agency. 

The measure, part of the larger package of government funding bills needed to keep federal agencies running past Jan. 30, sets aside $64.4 billion for Homeland Security funding, including $10 billion for ICE. That’s on top of $75 billion in new funding for ICE over the next four years that was approved under Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer.

The funding bill passed the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives mostly along party lines in a 220-207 vote on Jan. 22, two days before Pretti was shot. All four Colorado Republicans voted for the measure, while all four Democrats were opposed. 

In the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, Colorado’s two Democratic lawmakers had vowed to oppose the bill even before Prettis’ death. 

Sen. Michael Bennet said in a statement on Tuesday that he is also working on legislation to impose new “guardrails and accountability measures” for the Homeland Security Department, Customs and Border Protection and ICE. That includes measures to prohibit the use of Homeland Security funds to detain children, require warrants to enter homes and enhance the hiring, training and performance standards and requirements for federal immigration agents.

Other measures included in Bennet’s forthcoming bill would ensure access to legal counsel for federal detainees, restrict Homeland Security Department operations to the enforcement of immigration law, limit the department’s ability to unilaterally expand immigration detention facilities, and roll back a Trump administration policy that requires advance notice before members of Congress can enter a detention facility. 

“President Trump has unleashed his federal forces on American cities with no accountability and no regard for the rule of law,” Bennet said. “Under the auspices of investigating fraud, Trump has sent thousands of immigration agents to Minneapolis alone. These officers swore an oath to uphold the Constitution as they enforce our immigration laws, not patrol our streets in masks and unmarked vehicles, snatch people from their homes, destroy private property, or leave people dead in the street.”

Hickenlooper, in a Jan. 24 statement on X, said immigration officials are “out of control. Killing people, separating families, and terrorizing our communities.”