This undated photo provided by Michael Pretti shows Alex J. Pretti, the man who was shot by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Michael Pretti via AP)
"Somebody is going to write that children's story about Minnesota, and there's one person who can end this now," he said, referring to President Donald Trump.
Walz further criticized Trump, saying the president smeared the victim, gaslit the entire country and sought to conceal evidence related to the killing.
"This family has gone through enough," Walz said of Pretti’s relatives. "And to have the most powerful man in the world drag their dead son with absolutely no evidence and gaslight the entire country."
"Sitting behind a keyboard at 2 a.m. and besmirching a VA nurse and a son and a coworker and a friend is despicable beyond all description," he added.
TODD BLANCHE WARNS AMERICANS 'SHOULD BE WORRIED' ABOUT MINNESOTA PROTESTS AFTER CHURCH DISRUPTION
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks beside a screen showing an image of a handgun during a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)
Walz, however, described Pretti as a modest American, emphasizing that he held a legally licensed concealed-carry permit, and blasted federal officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, for unfairly portraying Pretti as a "crazed domestic terrorist."
"Beloved by his family, accomplished ICU nurse, skillful in ability to work with veterans, someone who is beloved by the community, no criminal record, lawful firearms owner," Walz said. "And then you heard the most powerful people in the world, certainly in this country — president, vice president, Gregory Bovino, Kristi Noem — narrate to you what you were looking at, that this was a domestic terrorist, crazed, running at law enforcement with the intent to kill massive numbers of that, sullying his name within minutes of this event happening."
ANTI-ICE AGITATOR ALLEGEDLY BITES OFF FEDERAL OFFICER'S FINGER DURING MINNEAPOLIS ATTACK
Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks to reporters at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. January 5, 2026. (Tim Evans/Reuters)
Walz also alleged that federal officials blocked state investigators from accessing the scene and sought to destroy or alter evidence related to the shooting.
"Then closing the crime scene, sweeping away the evidence, defying a court order and not allowing anyone to look at it," he said. "I don't care if you are conservative and you are flying a Donald Trump flag… If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw, I don't know what else to tell you."
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The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension filed a lawsuit Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota seeking to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence related to the shooting. The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Patrol, as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi as defendants.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
Bonny Chu is a Digital Production Assistant at Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tim-walz-compares-minnesota-ice-actions-holocaust-anne-frank-hiding-houses