Oliver Towfigh Nia
26 January 2026•Update: 26 January 2026
BERLIN
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday expressed concern over the fatal shooting of a US citizen during an operation by officers of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis.
“I find the news we've been getting from the USA in the last few days indeed worrying. And it's obviously always one region or one city that is affected,” Merz said in Hamburg.
“I assume that the American authorities will now really clarify whether it was necessary to shoot here, whether there really was a threat to the officers involved. In any case, I have to say I find this level of use of violence in the USA worrying, to put it that way,” he added.
A 37-year-old man was shot and killed Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the city’s second fatal shooting of a US citizen by federal agents this month. The US government described the fatal shooting as self-defense; however, video footage of the scene posted online paints a different picture.
The killing of Alex Pretti, who worked as an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, further inflamed tensions, sparking street clashes between protesters and law enforcement. The incident followed the fatal shooting on Jan. 7 of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis.
