Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke to the press Sunday afternoon, one day after 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents in south Minneapolis — the third shooting this month amid Operation Metro Surge, and the second fatality carried out by federal immigration enforcement forces.
“What’s the plan, Donald Trump? What is the plan?” Walz said. “What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state? If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation. We are tired, but we’re resolved. We’re peaceful, but we’ll never forget. We’re angry, but we won’t give up hope. And above all else, we are clearly unified.”
Walz said if President Trump’s intention was to “make an example of Minnesota,” it backfired.
“We believe in law and order in this state. We believe in peace, and we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person, and we’re up here telling another story of a Minnesotan just trying to live their life without the interference,” Walz said. “To Americans who are watching this right now, and I don’t know, maybe you’re watching it with curiosity, bewilderment, horror, scorn or sympathy. I’ve got a question for all of you. What side do you wanna be on?”
Full transcripts of Gov. Walz’s opening and closing statements
Opening statement
I had the privilege of talking with Michael and Susan, Alex’s parents, yesterday and the heartache in the hours after your son’s murdered in front of the world is one thing, but what stood out to me was a parent’s desire and their passion to make sure that the story of Alex was told.
Someone who went to work to care for veterans, someone who was a valued co-worker, someone who relished and lived in this state in a big way whether it was outdoor activities or being down there on the street as a First Amendment witness to what ICE is doing to this, to this state.
So, once again to Michael and Susan, when I talk to these parents, it’s always in deep confidential conversation. In this one, though, Michael was very clear to me. He said, “Don’t let them forget Alex’s story.”
The world knows how he died. He died at the hands of ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis. They want us to make sure we said how he lived. So to Michael and Susan, our deepest sympathies, but you have my commitment to continue to tell that story.
So now we’ve got two Minnesotans dead, we didn’t have time to start telling [Renee Good‘s] story of a poet and a mother and a bright spirit, and now we’re telling Alex’s story.
So my question is, what’s the plan, Donald Trump? What is the plan? What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state? If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation.
We are tired, but we’re resolved. We’re peaceful, but we’ll never forget. We’re angry, but we won’t give up hope. And above all else, we are clearly unified. If it was the intention of Donald Trump to make an example of Minnesota, then I’m damn proud of the example that the world’s seeing.
We believe in law and order in this state. We believe in peace, and we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person, and we’re up here telling another story of a Minnesotan just trying to live their life without the interference.
To Americans who are watching this right now, and I don’t know, maybe you’re watching it with curiosity, bewilderment, horror, scorn or sympathy. I’ve got a question for all of you: What side do you wanna be on?
The side of an all powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the streets? On the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such a government? Or the side of a mother whose last words were, “I’m not mad at you”?
The sight of tens of thousands of peaceful citizens who showed up to march when the wind chill was 40 below because they love this state and they love this country.
You’re allowed to decide at any point that you’re not with us anymore. If you voted for this administration, heck, even if you thought Operation Metro Surge was a good idea, sounded like the thing to do a month ago, you’re still allowed to look at what’s happening here in Minnesota and say, “This isn’t what I voted for and this isn’t what I want.”
I ask you not to stand by idly. Speak out, share what you’re seeing to others and urge others to put politics aside. We’re no longer having a political debate. We’re having a moral debate.
We all want secure borders and immigration enforcement that prioritizes criminals, and I want to thank the press, especially the local press, who has done a deep dive to show that’s exactly what Minnesota does.
But what you’re seeing is not common sense, lawful or humane enforcement. That’s not what this occupation is about.
Let me say our conversation should not be about, and I know we get asked of what we’re doing out there, how many state patrol or police or national guard I can put on the street. This isn’t about how many people I can put on the street, it’s about how many of these people, these ICE agents and whoever else was thrown into this unholy mess, how many Donald Trump can get out of here?
Minnesotans, you’ve won the hearts and minds of people across this country, and you’ve done it through your peaceful, resolved defense of your neighbors and the Constitution.
So once again Minnesotans, stay peaceful, stay safe. Change is coming and we can feel it. But this fight still goes on.
Closing statement
I’m going to close with one thing that I promised the parents, with Michael and Susan, and I speak to all Americans on this over these last 24 hours, what you saw, you’re now knowing more about this young man, beloved by his family, accomplished ICU nurse, skillful ability to work with veterans, someone who is beloved by community, no criminal record, lawful firearms owner.
And you know what you saw, and then you heard the most powerful people in the world, certainly in this country — the president, vice president, Greg Bovino, Kristi Noem — narrate to you what you were looking at that this was a domestic terrorist, crazed, running at law enforcement with the intent to kill massive numbers of them, sullying his name within minutes of this event happening. And then closing the crime scene, sweeping away the evidence, defying a court order and not allowing anyone to look at it.
I don’t care if you are conservative and you are flying a Donald Trump flag, you’re a libertarian, don’t tread on me, you’re a Democratic Socialist of America. This is an inflection point, America. If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw, I don’t know what else to tell you.
This has to be the moment.
Your government here in Minnesota, I’ve made it clear I’m accountable for things that happen here, and I will take responsibility for that. Someone has to be accountable. Someone has to hold the final decision on this. And sitting behind a keyboard at 2 a.m. and besmirching a VA nurse and a son and a co-worker and a friend is despicable beyond all description.
This is not “we need to see both sides.” This is not “we need to wait for this.” This is basic human decency. And at this point in time, I’m just asking try, for a moment, to set aside the political side of it and go back and ground in the humanity of this. This family has gone through enough, and to have the most powerful man in the world drag their dead son with absolutely no evidence and gaslight the entire country? This is enough.
And I would say, President Trump, you can end this today. Pull these folks back. Do humane, focused, effective immigration control. You’ve got the support of all of us to do that, let our law enforcement continue to do what they do, making Minnesota one of the safest states in the country, one of the best places to live. Allow our children to go back to school. We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside.
Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody is going to write that children’s story about Minnesota. And there’s one person who can end this now.
And I’ll go back to it again. Please show some decency, pull these folks out, reset this situation and allow us to do the job that the attorney general and myself were elected to do: protect the people of Minnesota and carry out the laws of Minnesota.