Rep. Derrick Van Orden, D-Wis., arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

After the shooting of Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents, U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) has repeatedly accused Minnesota Democrats of encouraging an insurrection.

The shooting, which saw federal immigration agents gun down an American citizen for the second time in Minneapolis in the last month, was met with severe backlash from the public, and certain members of the Republican Party have subsequently struggled to defend the administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.

Videos of the horrific killing show an unarmed man being executed and prove that he never drew his firearm. The video evidence clashes with the narrative being offered by public officials like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who hours after the shooting erroneously claimed that Pretti intended to inflict “maximum damage” and “massacre” ICE agents with his handgun.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), a longtime proponent of the Republican Party, urged a full investigation after Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel said Pretti’s death was justified for simply bringing a gun to a protest. However, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has said that Pretti was a legal firearm owner permitted to carry the handgun in public.  

Some Republicans like Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) and Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel have openly criticized the Trump administration’s continued ICE operations after the shooting. But Van Orden and others continue to vehemently defend ICE operations and blame the incident on Democratic leaders, echoing Trump’s sentiment that Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (DFL) are inciting an insurrection to distract from Minnesota’s fraud scandal.

Van Orden also compared Walz’s assertion that federal agents are occupying Minnesota to the rhetoric used by Confederates against the Union before the Civil War. After Pretti’s death last Saturday, Van Orden accused Democrats of inciting insurrection or sedition in 12 different X posts. And on Monday, he accused Pretti of trying to approach the federal agents with a gun after getting into a shoving match with them.

Van Orden’s office did not immediately respond to a request to comment and offer evidence to his accusations. On Monday afternoon, Van Orden posted an official statement to his official X account, where he said he supports the ongoing investigation but continued to blame the shooting on Democrats.

According to CNN, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents collected evidence and denied state investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) access to the crime scene. Even after BCA obtained a warrant from a judge, DHS officials did not allow them to collect evidence. After DHS agents left the scene, protesters overran the area.

In response to Pretti’s death and the false narratives offered by Republican officials, Senate Democrats have threatened to vote down an upcoming spending bill if it includes funding for DHS.