Former President Joe Biden condemned the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in Minneapolis after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents, while praising Minnesotans for their continued protests and calls for accountability.
“What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans,” Biden wrote in an X post Tuesday. “We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights. We are not a nation that tramples the 4th Amendment and tolerates our neighbors being terrorized. The people of Minnesota have stood strong — helping community members in unimaginable circumstances, speaking out against injustice when they see it, and holding our government accountable to the people.”
Biden commended Minnesotans for reminding “us all what it is to be American” and said the state’s residents have “suffered enough at the hands of this administration,” but he stopped short of naming President Donald Trump while admonishing the tactics used by DHS and ICE, saying that “no single person can destroy what America stands for and believes in.”
What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans. We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights. We are not a…
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 27, 2026
“We know who we are,” the former president said while encouraging citizens to stand up and speak out about what’s happening. “It’s time to show the world. More importantly, it’s time to show ourselves.”
“Now, justice requires full, fair, and transparent investigations into the deaths of the two Americans who lost their lives in the city they called home,” his post concluded. “Jill and I are sending strength to the families and communities who love Alex Pretti and Renee Good as we all mourn their senseless deaths.”
Biden is not the only former president to speak out after the fatal shooting of Minneapolis ICU nurse Pretti by federal immigration agents on Saturday. Barack and Michelle Obama also condemned ongoing ICE operations in Minnesota and mourned Pretti’s death in a lengthy statement shared online Sunday.
“The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault,” the Obamas statement read.
Former President Bill Clinton also issued a statement rebuking the current administration’s deportation tactics, saying, “The people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we’ve seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities.”
