The following text is a statement given by Jacob Frey, the Minneapolis mayor, at a press conference in the wake of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a US citizen and local resident, by federal law enforcement on Saturday.
I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death.
How many more residents, how many more Americans, need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?
How many more lives need to be lost before this administration realizes that a political and partisan narrative is not as important as American values?
How many times must local and national leaders plead with you, Donald Trump, to end this operation and recognize that this is not creating safety in our city. We have seen these kinds of operations in other places, in other countries, but not here in America, not in a way where a great American city is being invaded by its own federal government.
I’m done being told that our community members are responsible for the vitriol in our streets.
I’m done being told that our local elected officials are solely responsible for turning down the temperature. Just yesterday, we saw 15,000 people peacefully protesting in the streets, speaking out, standing up for their neighbors. Not a single broken window, not a single injury.
Those peaceful protests embody the very principles that both Minneapolis and America was founded upon. Conversely, the masked, militarized force and unidentified agents who are occupying our streets – that is what weakens our country, that is what erodes trust in both law enforcement and in democracy itself.
So, to everyone listening, stand with Minneapolis. Stand up for America. Recognize that your children will ask you what side you were on. Your grandchildren will ask you what you did to act to prevent this from happening again, to make sure that the foundational elements of our democracy were rock solid. What did you do to protect your city? What did you do to protect your nation? This is not what America is about. This is not a partisan issue. This is an American tradition.
This administration and everyone involved in this operation should be reflecting. They should be reflecting right now and asking themselves, what exactly are you accomplishing?
If the goal was to achieve peace and safety, this is doing exactly the opposite.
If the goal was to achieve calm and prosperity, this is doing exactly the opposite.
Are you standing up for American families right now or are we tearing them apart?
The invasion of these heavily armed, masked agents roaming around on our streets of Minneapolis, emboldened with a sense of impunity – it has to end. This is not how it has to be.
So, to President Trump, this is a moment to act like a leader. Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment, let’s achieve peace. Let’s end this operation. And I’m telling you, our city will come back. Safety will be restored. We’re asking for you to take action now to remove these federal agents.
