AG Bondi demands access to Minnesota voter rolls after fatal Border Patrol shooting

Just hours after federal immigration officers shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi seized upon the incident to demand access to Minnesota’s voter rolls, directly tying the Trump administration’s quest for voters’ unredacted personal data to its aggressive immigration raids across the state.

In a letter to Gov. Tim Walz (D) Saturday, Bondi blamed state and local leaders for the unrest ignited by the Trump administration’s expansive immigration enforcement operations. She claimed that Walz could “restore the rule of law” by complying with a list of demands, including giving the Department of Justice (DOJ) the state’s voter registration records.

“Allow the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to access voter rolls to confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law as authorized by the Civil Rights Act of 1960,” Bondi said in the letter, which was first obtained by Fox News.

The letter adds the state’s unwillingness to share voting data to a litany of grievances the Trump administration has leveled against Minnesota, which range from the local Democratic leaders’ rejection of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) actions to a longstanding welfare fraud scandal.

Bondi’s other demands included sharing Minnesota’s data on Medicaid and supplementary food assistance with the federal government, ending “sanctuary policies” and supporting and collaborating with ICE. This would allow the government to investigate fraud and curb “crime and violence” in the state, the attorney general claimed.

In sum, Bondi’s letter represents a major assault on Minnesota’s sovereignty, demanding that it forfeit its ability to make and enforce its own laws and maintain its voter rolls without oversight from the executive branch, which does not have authority over elections. 

Earlier this week, Minnesota rejected the DOJ’s demand for data on its same-day voter registration and vouching system. Minnesota leaders described the request as an unlawful federal attempt to intrude on sensitive voter information and the state’s authority.

Bondi’s message came as Minnesota was reeling from the second fatal shooting by a federal agent in Minneapolis this month.

Earlier Saturday, a Border Patrol officer shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti as at least six other agents held him to the ground. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed Pretti “approached” federal agents with a handgun and was shot after federal agents failed to disarm him. 

However, bystander video of the incident refutes DHS’s account. Footage shows that agents confronted Pretti, who was holding a phone in one hand and had his other hand raised. It also shows that, after several agents wrestled Pretti to the ground, an agent pulled a gun from the man’s waistband before a Border Patrol officer fired the first shot.

After the first shot, the agent continued firing on Pretti as he lay motionless. In total, federal agents fired at least 10 shots within five seconds, according to a New York Times analysis.

After the shooting, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry and had no criminal background.

Pretti’s death came just over two weeks after ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old mother of three Renee Good in Minneapolis.

During an interview with Fox News after the shooting, Bondi said the DOJ sent Walz the letter Saturday in order to demand that “he better support President Trump.”

“He better support the men and women in law enforcement because if he doesn’t, we are, and that’s what we’re doing right now,” Bondi claimed.

The attorney general also said that recent protests against Trump’s immigration raids in Minnesota have been “organized” but did specify who or what was organizing them.

“It’s extremely organized,” Bondi claimed. “The signs they have are all matching. They’re well written. And look at what’s happening today. How did these people go out and get gas masks?”

In claiming that the protests are organized, Bondi could be attempting to create a pretext for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy the military to Minneapolis, which the president threatened to do last week.

Legal experts have warned that DOJ officials may be attempting to fabricate justification for the Insurrection Act by investigating Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other local leaders as part of a conspiracy probe.

As with the killing of Good, Trump officials almost immediately deemed Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and sought to shut local law enforcement agencies from investigating the shooting.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said DHS officials blocked its agents and crime scene personnel from accessing the crime scene.

Outside of Minnesota, the DOJ is seeking access to statewide voter rolls in dozens of states. But the campaign has, so far, not held up in court.

On Friday, a federal court in Georgia rejected the DOJ’s voter roll lawsuit because it had been filed in the wrong district. Federal judges dismissed similar DOJ lawsuits in California and Oregon and one filed by a right-wing group in Utah.