Tensions in Minnesota remain high in the days since Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, as demonstrated by this evening's attack on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar during a town hall.

A man charged the Minnesota lawmaker and sprayed an unknown substance in her direction before being apprehended by security and removed from the room. Omar continued the event after the incident.

The fatal shooting of Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday came just weeks after another US citizen, 37-year-old Renee Good, was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer in the city.

Trump has said this week that his administration was "going to de-escalate a little bit" in Minnesota, and he told Fox News today that both shootings were "terrible".

There have been growing calls from Democrats, and some Republicans, for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be replaced over her agency's aggressive immigration crackdown in the state.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said today that if Trump doesn't fire her, he will start the process to impeach her. The president has reiterated his full confidence in Noem.

Meanwhile, Trump has sent his Border Tsar Tom Homan to Minnesota to lead on-the-ground immigration operations as Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino is being moved elsewhere.

We're ending our live coverage now, but here's our latest reporting from Minnesota:

Trump says government will 'de-escalate' in Minnesota following Pretti shooting

Image source, Reuters

Senator Lisa Murkowski is the latest Republican to call for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to step down in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of two Americans in Minneapolis this month.

"I have lost confidence in her," she told reporters.

Asked if she thinks President Trump should remove Noem, Murkowski says that's up to the president, but "we would be better served with new leadership at the department".

After Alex Pretti's killing, Noem described him as "a domestic terrorist", a label the White House has since sought to distance itself from. Murkowski says her resignation call is not solely because of Noem's handling of Pretti's shooting.

"I think that there are other issues," she adds. "I supported her nomination. I had great hopes for her in the department, and I have been disappointed."

Murkowski joins Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, who also called for Noem's resignation.

The Alaska senator had previously said Alex Pretti's killing "should raise serious questions within the administration about the adequacy of immigration-enforcement training and the instructions officers are given on carrying out their mission."

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Minneapolis

About 100 people are gathered in a north Minneapolis basement to hear their Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, speak.

Around town, there’s only one thing on residents’ minds - the presence of federal immigration officials.

We’re expecting to hear Omar address what’s happening in the city and the response to Alex Pretti’s death.

As we waited, a man suddenly charged toward Omar as she was speaking and sprayed some sort of liquid at her.

Immediately, security jumped in, and people started yelling, "It smells!"

The man was shouting, as were people in the crowd, as security removed him from the room.

“We will continue, these [expletives] will not get away with it," she said. "We are Minnesota strong."

Here's that moment:

Security at a town hall hosted by Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar have escorted a man out after he sprayed the lawmakers with an unidentified substance.

Video from the scene, sent by a BBC crew, shows the team shouting "make a hole" as they wrestled the man out of the room.

It is unclear what was sprayed on the congresswoman and if the man has been arrested by local police.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Authorities in the US state of Arizona say they are responding to a shooting involving Border Patrol agents in the community of Arivaca, which is about 10 miles north of the US-Mexico border.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said in a news briefing that early this morning, agents spotted a suspect involved in human trafficking, and when they tried to stop his car, he fled on foot.

The suspect opened fire on the Border Patrol agent who was chasing him, and the agent then fired back, hitting the suspect, Nanos said.

The suspect is in the hospital in a serious but stable condition, and the Border Patrol agent was not injured, Nanos said.

Nanos said the investigation, in coordination with the FBI and other federal partners, is ongoing. Nanos stressed that this incident was "pretty clear-cut" and that coordinating with federal authorities is something "we do all the time".

The shooting comes amid heightened tensions surrounding a Border Patrol agent's fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer's fatal shooting of Renee Good, both in Minnesota.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Minneapolis

At a shop in Elk River I bump into a group of women and we start talking about what's happening in their state.

Because I'm in a more conservative part of Minnesota - north of Minneapolis - when one woman named Terry replies, "I can't believe what's happening," I honestly don't know how she feels about the ongoing immigration action.

"They need to make it go away, it's wrong, and I'm tired of it," she said. Standing next to Terri is a woman named Cindy who agreed with much of what Terri said, but explained she struggles to understand how her daughter, a supporter of Trump, can watch what's happening without frustration.

"I just don't get it," Cindy said.

There has been a slight shift from her daughter since the death of Alex Pretti, she said. Before his death, her daughter was touting Trump, the individual.

"This is a Trump household," she would tell her mother when Cindy would come over to visit.

Now she doesn't mention the president by name, only his policies, which she still largely agrees with, Cindy said.

Customs and Border Protection has sent a report to Congress on the shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The report, obtained by the BBC's US partner CBS News, is based on a "preliminary review" by the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility.

The report does not mention Pretti approaching CBP officers with a gun, contradicting previous statements by Kristi Noem and Gregory Bovino that Pretti was trying to kill officers.

The Department of Homeland Security also said in a statement over the weekend that Pretti had "approached" officers with a gun, but the report does not say that Pretti ever reached for his firearm.

The report also reveals that when a "struggle ensued" between Pretti and CBP agents, one agent yelled "He's got a gun!" multiple times.

Five seconds later, two Border Patrol agents fired their Glocks at Pretti, according to the report.

"After the shooting, a BPA advised he had possession of Pretti's firearm," the report says, though it does not indicate whether the agent took custody of the gun before or after agents fired shots.

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. today, Republican US Senator Susan Collins of Maine says she has been in communication with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and that she wants to see a change in how immigration violations are enforced in Minnesota.

“I've talked to the Secretary of Homeland Security. I have strongly recommended to her that there be a pause on the enforcement surge in both Maine and in Minnesota so that we can have a far more targeted approach," Collins, a Republican, said.

It comes as other members of her party, like Senate Majority Leader John Thune, also call for officials to "turn down the temperature".

Maine is another state in which ICE operations have recently been ramped up.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Minneapolis

Jay Cielinski wants federal immigration officers in Minnesota to continue their operation to clear undocumented immigrants from the state.

The 59-year-old sits at an American Legion, 30 miles outside the city in a Republican-stronghold, alongside other veterans chatting about what's happening in their state.

"Local politicians should really keep their mouths shut," he said.

He applauds ICE and the federal immigration operation and wants Trump to continue his efforts.

"They're just doing their job, which is right, it's legal and heaven forbid that they're put in a compromising situation where they have to take somebody's life or they have to harm somebody and [that officer] is subject of scrutiny for forever," he said.

Cielinski said he does not understand why demonstrations continue in the metropolis south of his hometown.

"They should stay at home, stay out of the way," he said of protesters. "Law enforcement officials at the city, state, county, should be encouraging ICE to go in. They should expose the people that are illegal."

President Trump has just concluded his speech in Iowa after speaking to supporters, who regularly erupted in cheers and chants of "USA", for about an hour.

He did not explicitly mention the events in Minnesota and stuck mostly to touting what he sees as his accomplishments during his first year in office.

The White House billed the speech as a campaign-style event and intended it to kick off the run-up to the midterm elections in November, rallying Trump's base.

Similar events are expected to follow throughout the year.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Republican Senator Thom Tillis is slamming Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over the immigration operation in Minnesota.

"What she's done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job... it's just amateurish," Tillis, who represents North Carolina, tells reporters.

He adds that Noem is making the president "look bad" on the very policies that helped him win the election, like cracking down on immigration.

"And now nobody's talking about that. They're not talking about securing the border. They're talking about the incompetence of the leader of Homeland Security and the other people," like Gregory Bovino, he says.

Tillis adds that authorities need to de-escalate the situation in Minneapolis and treat the people there "with some respect".

Image source, Reuters

Trump has been speaking in Iowa for more than 35 minutes now. He has stayed focused on the economy, tariffs, wages, and inflation so far, only briefly touching on immigration when criticising the previous administration's policies.

However, he has made no mention yet of events in Minnesota and the aftermath of the killing of two Americans by federal agents this month.

A lawyer for an Ecuadorian man says he has been released from immigration detention hours after a federal judge ordered ICE's acting director Todd Lyons to appear in court over potential contempt of judicial orders.

Juan Hugo Tobay Robles came to the US without legal authorisation as a child in 1999 according to court records. He was arrested in Minnesota earlier this month and then transferred to the other side of the country in Texas.

A judge ruled that he should be given a bond hearing or released, but neither of the two things happened by the deadline, prompting Minnesota's chief judge, Patrick J. Schiltz, to order Lyons to appear in court this week to answer questions. "The Court’s patience is at an end," he wrote.

Tobay Robles' lawyer tells the BBC he has now been released.

"I received an email shortly after 1 pm CST from the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney's Office that he was released," Graham Ojala-Barbour told the BBC in a statement. "He was released in Texas."

In his ruling, Judge Schiltz decried some of ICE's practices, saying it has "almost always been significant hardship to aliens," including instances where "an alien who has been flown to Texas is released there and told to figure out a way to get home."

Asked if his client could be rearrested, Ojala-Barbour says he isn't ruling that out.

"Given the federal court’s order, I do not believe he will be rearrested. However, given that during their recent siege of Minneapolis, ICE has arrested U.S. citizens and people in lawful status, perhaps I should not be too certain of anything."

In his ruling, Judge Schiltz said if Tobay Robles was released, then the contempt hearing would be canceled.

While we listen to Trump speaking in Iowa, we can bring you so more reactions to the administration's immigration enforcement leadership in Minnesota.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune has called the shooting death of Alex Pretti a "tragedy".

"There should be a full and impartial investigation into the shooting," Thune says. "I'm glad that the president is sending Tom Homan to Minnesota and I hope that his arrival will help restore order to the situation."

He also says that the recent shooting deaths in the state should encourage "soul searching" for those, including elected officials, who have encouraged abuse toward ICE officers "simply trying to do their duty".

Image source, Reuters

President Donald Trump is now speaking at a rally in Iowa.

His speech will mainly focus on the economy, but we will be listening for any lines on Minnesota.

Stick with us as we bring them to you here.

Image source, Bloomberg via Getty Images

We can now bring you a statement from another senior Republican who has joined other voices urging a rethink of ICE operations.

"A pivot to ICE’s core mission in Minnesota is needed," Representative Mark Amodei of Nevada, chairman of the US House subcommittee that approves funding for the Homeland Security Department. "Prioritizing the most dangerous criminal aliens and focusing enforcement on individuals who have gone through due process and have final orders of removal is the stated core mission."

Amodei's comments come as lawmakers debate a new funding package that would prevent a government shutdown in the coming days. Democrats have vowed to oppose increased funding for ICE.

He welcomed the Trump administration's deployment of Tom Homan and others to Minnesota and says calls to shut down the department would be "reckless" as it has a range of responsibilities including disaster relief through Fema.

On the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Amodei says "I expect thorough and transparent investigations into what went wrong and immediate actions to ensure something like this never happens again."

Trump says he believes the protests in Minnesota are part of an effort to distract from a sprawling federal fraud investigation into welfare payments in Minneapolis.

"A lot of what is going on with respect to Minneapolis, what's happening with all the hoopla is so people don't talk about the fraud," he says.

"I have said it from day one, it's a distraction."

Asked if he still has confidence in Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Trump praises her for "closing the border".

"The border is a tremendous success, one of the most secure borders in the entire world," Trump says.

"We were a laughing stock one-and-a-half years ago, for the whole world. The whole world laughed at us."

Trump says he spoke with Tom Homan today as the White House "border tsar" takes over the immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota from US Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino.

"He's great," Trump says of Homan, adding that "as tough as he is", mayors and governors tend to get along well with him.

Trump adds that Homan spoke to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and that they both want to see the situation improve.

Image source, Reuters

Trump is asked whether the replacement of Gregory Bovino in Minnesota by "border tsar" Tom Homan was a retreat of the federal immigration operation in the state.

"I don't think it's a pullback, it's a little bit of a change," Trump says. "Bovino is very good, but he's a pretty out-there kind of a guy, and in some cases, that's good, maybe it wasn't good here."