The Brief | A Bad Shoot, a Worse Narrative, and a Federal Standoff

What happened in Minneapolis — and what’s quietly changing behind the scenes

I had plans this weekend. A book. A fire. Maybe some snow.

What happened instead: another fatal shooting in Minneapolis, activists released after terrorizing children at a church, and encrypted chats allegedly linking state officials to anti-ICE surveillance networks. The snow never came—just cold rain, but it could have been worse. It could have been ice.

The weekend was intense, and eventually I allowed myself to curl up with a book and fire.

Needless to say, today’s The Brief is loaded.

In today’s Brief:
• What actually happened in the Minneapolis shooting
• Why DHS messaging backfired
• The Walz–Bondi standoff and federal leverage
• Internal DHS tensions you might not know about
• Organized counter-surveillance claims in Minneapolis
• More details on the Cities Church invasion

Let’s get into it.

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Minneapolis Shooting: Bad Decisions All Around

This story is still unfolding, but here’s what we know, what doesn’t add up, and what’s already being quietly recalibrated behind the scenes.

On Saturday morning, Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA, during an immigration enforcement operation. What followed was a predictable rush by both sides to control the narrative, but the facts, as usual, are more complicated than anyone wants to admit.

What we know happened: Multiple bystander videos show the sequence of events. Pretti was among protesters observing an immigration operation, holding his phone and recording. Pretti is directing traffic on the street while the officers conduct a targeted operation. A Border Patrol officer approaches Pretti, pushes him back out of the street, and a woman intervenes. When an agent shoved a female protester to the ground, Pretti inserted himself, moving between the woman and the officer.

This is where things escalated quickly. Agents pepper-sprayed Pretti, and he engaged with the officer. At least six officers then wrestled him to the ground. During the struggle, the video appears to show an officer retrieving what looks like a handgun from Pretti, and you can hear someone shout “gun”. Within seconds after the weapon was recovered from his back, multiple shots were fired and Pretti was killed.

Narrative Battle Begins

Here’s where DHS did itself no favors. Secretary Noem held a press conference claiming Pretti was “brandishing” a firearm and calling it “domestic terrorism.” Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said Pretti wanted to “inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”

The video doesn’t support this. Pretti is seen holding a phone, not a gun, before the altercation. There’s no evidence he drew or brandished the weapon. When CNN’s Dana Bash pressed Bovino on whether Pretti ever actually pulled out his weapon, he notably declined to answer directly.

Trump’s response: In a Sunday interview with the Wall Street Journal, President Trump took a balanced approach, declining to rush to judgment either way.

“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump said.

He also noted that he doesn’t “like it when somebody goes into a protest, and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”

The president also signaled openness to eventually drawing down federal presence in Minneapolis, suggesting the administration is assessing the situation.

Walz Cries Nazi

While the administration’s initial messaging was clumsy, Governor Tim Walz has been pouring gasoline on the fire for weeks. He’s compared federal agents to “Nazi gestapo,” called Operation Metro Surge “a campaign of organized brutality,” and demanded Trump “remove this force from Minnesota.”

Attorney General Keith Ellison has asked Minnesotans what they would do “if my Jewish neighbors were under attack by the Nazis” and whether they’d “give them sanctuary.”

When you tell your constituents that federal law enforcement officers are equivalent to Nazis conducting a genocide, you’re actively encouraging confrontation. You’re telling people that interfering with these operations is not just acceptable but morally required.

And then when someone does interfere and gets killed, you act shocked.

Bondi and Trump’s Make Demands

Hours after the shooting, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Walz a letter outlining conditions to “restore the rule of law” in Minnesota. Democrats immediately called it “blackmail.” Let’s look at what she actually asked for:

1. Share state welfare data so the federal government can investigate fraud—Minnesota has had massive fraud scandals in its social services programs.

2. Cooperate with federal immigration enforcement—honor detainers, allow ICE access to state prisons and jails. This is asking Minnesota to stop actively obstructing federal law.

3. Allow DOJ access to voter rolls to verify compliance with federal election law—something the Civil Rights Act of 1960 authorizes.

Democrats like Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy attempted to frame this as Trump blackmailing Minnesota with the removal of immigration enforcement if they handed over voter rolls, clearly with the intent to steal the 2026 election. The framing of this as “ransom” or “blackmail” only works if you’ve already accepted the premise that Minnesota has no obligation to work with federal authorities, which is not how federalism works. These aren’t outrageous demands; it is the federal government asking a state to comply with federal law and cooperate with legitimate federal investigations.

Trump followed up on social media, calling on Walz and “EVERY Democrat Governor and Mayor” to cooperate with immigration enforcement and turn over criminal illegal aliens in state custody. Again, this is the federal government asking states to follow federal law. The idea that this is somehow tyrannical requires ignoring the actual requests.

The Noem vs. Homan Tension: Strategy, Not Drama

Here’s some background on alleged tensions between Noem and Homan, and why Noem and Border Patrol have been more visible since October and not Homan and ICE.

The NY Post reported back in December that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan are “barely speaking.” The core disagreement? Strategy.

Homan—along with acting ICE Director Todd Lyons—wanted targeted operations focused on criminals and gang members. Go after the worst offenders first. Build cases. Minimize collateral damage. This was the approach that made ICE effective during previous administrations.

Noem and adviser Corey Lewandowski wanted something different: broad, public roundups. Big numbers. Visible operations. Headlines.

As Erick Erickson put it bluntly this weekend: “Kristi Noem marginalized Tom Homan and the head of Border Patrol because those two prioritized deportations of criminals and gang members. Noem and Corey Lewandowski wanted broad, public round-ups without prioritizing the illegal aliens.”

One DHS official told Fox News the difference in approaches this way: “ICE is arresting criminal aliens. They [Border Patrol] are hitting Home Depots and car washes.”

Noem won the internal battle. She elevated Border Patrol—which typically operates at the border, not in American cities—to lead these urban operations. That’s how you end up with Commander Gregory Bovino holding press conferences about Minneapolis instead of Homan or ICE leadership.

And now it appears the tide may be shifting.

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported last night on significant internal frustration among multiple DHS and federal immigration sources. Here’s what’s remarkable: even while acknowledging that Pretti made a poor decision showing up armed and interfering with officers, these officials criticized DHS leadership for aggressively claiming he intended a “massacre” or “maximum damage” against agents—assertions the bystander videos don’t support.

Sources described the shooting as likely a chaotic “bad shoot” triggered by split-second confusion—possibly even an accidental discharge. They called DHS’s crisis messaging a “catastrophic” PR failure. One compared it to past debunked narratives that have damaged the department’s credibility.

The internal concern? This erodes morale, credibility, and public support for the mass deportation agenda, a policy these sources actually support. They’re not critics of enforcement. They’re critics of how Noem is running it.

And then this morning, the White House announced Tom Homan is headed to Minnesota.

The Signal Chats: Organized Surveillance Networks in Minneapolis

Independent journalist Cam Higby has been reporting something most outlets won’t touch: he claims to have infiltrated encrypted Signal group chats in Minneapolis that are allegedly coordinating real-time surveillance of federal agents.

According to Higby’s reporting, these networks track vehicles, log license plates to shared databases, share movements 24/7, and dispatch observers to suspected ICE locations. The groups are highly organized—divided by city zones, paranoid about detection, deleting messages, and creating new daily chats to hit Signal’s 1,000-member limit.

The most explosive claim: alleged involvement of Minnesota state officials, including speculation that Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan may be an admin under a code name. Higby has shared screenshots and user identifications, though these claims have not been independently verified.

Important context: This reporting comes from Higby’s undercover work and has been amplified primarily in conservative media and on X. Mainstream outlets have focused on related protests and official statements without confirming these specific details.

But here’s what we do know: The relationship between state and federal officials in Minnesota has completely broken down. And someone is coordinating sophisticated counter-surveillance operations against law enforcement.

Whether state officials are directly involved or this is organic activist infrastructure, it’s a question that deserves answers.

The Church Invasion: What the Federal Complaint Actually Says

We now have the full federal criminal complaint in the Cities Church case, and the details are worse than what made headlines.

On January 18, between 30-40 protesters executed what they called “Operation Pullup”—a “clandestine” operation organized by civil rights attorney Nekima Levy-Armstrong. The federal affidavit, sworn by DHS Special Agent Timothy Gerber, documents a pre-operation meeting in a Cub Foods parking lot where organizers instructed participants to hide “activist identifying” clothing, not sit together, and infiltrate the church in waves.

They targeted Cities Church because they believed one of the pastors is an ICE director.

Here’s what happened inside, according to witness interviews and video evidence:

A female parishioner was observed holding two toddlers “in a protective way, with what appears to be a look of anxiety and fear on her face.” Defendant William Scott Kelly (”DaWokeFarmer”) yelled at children, reportedly saying “do you know your parents are Nazis, they’re going to burn in hell.” Parents were unable to reach their children in the downstairs childcare area because protesters blocked the stairs.

One witness told the FBI she thought they were going to harm her family, that protesters followed them to their car and wouldn’t let them leave. A child told his father: “Daddy, I thought you were going to die.”

A parishioner broke her arm fleeing through a side door. Per victim statements: “they were terrorized, our children were weeping, college students and young women were sobbing.”

The three primary defendants—Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen (a St. Paul School Board member), and William Scott Kelly—have been released on conditions after judges determined they weren’t flight risks. They face charges under 18 U.S.C. § 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights) and the FACE Act.

Worth noting: The same FACE Act has been weaponized against pro-life protesters. Now it’s being used here. Some will call that consistency; others will call it irony. Either way, when you storm a church during worship and terrorize children, the federal government has tools to respond.

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Quick Rundown

• Olympic snowboarder-turned-drug kingpin Ryan Wedding was arrested in Mexico after two years on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. FBI Director Kash Patel flew to Mexico personally for the capture, calling Wedding “a modern-day El Chapo.” He allegedly ran a billion-dollar cocaine empire for the Sinaloa Cartel and ordered the murder of a federal witness. NY Post

• A massive winter storm is sweeping the eastern U.S., with over 750,000 people without power across the South. More than 30 states under weather advisories.

• A protester bit off a Border Patrol agent’s finger in the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting. Just when you think you’ve seen everything.

• Schumer announced Democrats won’t advance funding bills with DHS money in response to the Pretti shooting. Government shutdown politics meets immigration enforcement meets election year.

What Do You Think?

The administration’s Minneapolis strategy is clearly being reassessed in real time. But the fundamental question remains: When federal enforcement meets organized local resistance—backed by state officials who compare agents to Nazis—who blinks first?

I’ll be watching what changes after Homan arrives, and whether DHS quietly abandons Noem’s visibility-first strategy. Expect more on this Wednesday.

Leave a comment. I read everything.

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