Basketball Hall of Famer and NBA analyst Charles Barkley expressed frustration over the latest shooting death in Minneapolis after a 37-year-old man was shot and killed during an immigration crackdown in the Minnesota city.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, on Saturday morning. Federal officials say the shooting was in self-defense after Pretti stepped into a confrontation between an immigration officer and a woman on the street. Officials say that Pretti was armed, but no bystander videos appear to show him holding a weapon. The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.
Pretti’s death follows another shooting death that occurred Jan. 7 when Renee Good was killed during an immigration stop. The deaths of Pretti and Good have led to protests and outrage not only in Minneapolis but around the country.
“It’s just sad,” Barkley said on ESPN’s “NBA Tip-Off” after Saturday’s game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors was canceled because of the shooting. “It’s scary and it’s sad. It’s sad. I don’t know how. …You know it’s going to end bad. It’s already ended badly twice. Somebody has got to step up and be adults because two people have died for no reason, and it’s just sad.”
It is unclear who the “adults” are that Barkley was referring to in his statement. Democrats have demanded federal immigration officials leave Minnesota.
Although the Timberwolves’ game at Target Center was postponed, the Minnesota Wild, the NHL team that plays in the same venue as the Timberwolves, proceeded to play their scheduled game against the Florida Panthers that night.
Pretti’s family said they were “heartbroken but also very angry” at authorities, saying in a statement that Pretti was a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world.
A federal judge has already issued an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to the shooting, after state and county officials sued.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the lawsuit filed Saturday is meant to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday in federal court in St. Paul.
“A full, impartial, and transparent investigation into his fatal shooting at the hands of DHS agents is nonnegotiable,” Ellison said in a statement.
Spokespersons for the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which are named in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.