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City Cast Twin Cities

🚫 Feds flake on Alex Pretti joint investigation

February 18, 2026

Good Morning, Twin Cities. It’s Adam today. We're nearing the end of our first membership drive, and the support has been incredible – but we still need 25 people to sign up by the end of the week to meet our goal. Can you pitch in to support local journalism that connects the Twin Cities?

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Today’s Must-Know

A sign with an arrow pointing left. In the arrow it reads "VIVA ALEX!!"
A community member wrote "Viva Alex!!" on a traffic sign near Alex Pretti's memorial. (Adam Sage / City Cast Twin Cities)

Feds Flake on Alex Pretti Joint Investigation

Following reporting earlier this month that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was pursuing a "path forward" for a joint investigation with the FBI into the killing of Alex Pretti, the FBI has formally refused to share evidence with local investigators. [The Guardian]

  • Nothing new: Though it is usually standard procedure for federal and state investigators to work together on shootings involving federal agents, the FBI has now declined to share evidence with the BCA related to the shootings of Renee Good, Julio Sosa-Celis, and Alex Pretti. After the shooting of Alex Pretti, BCA investigators anticipated obstruction from federal agents and got a signed judicial warrant to get access to the crime scene. The investigators were denied access anyway. [MS NOW]
  • 'Work continues': Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and BCA Superintendent Drew Evans both reminded constituents that independent investigations into the shootings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Julio Sosa-Celis are still ongoing, regardless of cooperation from the federal government. [Star Tribune]

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What the Cities Are Talking About

Legislative preview: Lawmakers from around Minnesota have returned to St. Paul for the start of the 2026 legislative session. They have not met since the assassinations of Melissa and Mark Hortman, the Annunciation school shooting, and the ICE surge in Minnesota. Immigration, gun control, and fraud are expected to be hot-button issues during this year's session. [MPR]

Be careful out there: Following a week of warmer temperatures, two people have fallen through ice and drowned recently on the Mississippi River and on a pond in Bloomington. On the DNR's ice safety website, they recommend wearing a flotation device and carrying ice picks and a cell phone or personal locator beacon when going out on the ice. [Star Tribune]

Saving our restaurants: The Salt Cure Restaurant Recovery Fund is raising money to support restaurants that have experienced hardship during ICE's surge in the Twin Cities. Many smaller restaurants don't have a large enough platform to ask for help or fear being targeted for speaking out against ICE in the Twin Cities. You can donate or apply to receive aid on their website. [The Salt Cure]

A man in glasses frowning as he looks down at a podium
More than 1,000 immigration enforcement agents have left Minnesota, and hundreds more will be leaving throughout this week. (Stephen Maturen / Stringer)

Still here: Border czar Tom Homan said that a "small" security force will remain in the Twin Cities to respond when agents in the field are "surrounded by agitators." He didn't define how many agents constitute a "small" force or how long they will remain, but Homan insisted that ICE will get back to its pre-surge level of agents in the state. [Sahan Journal]

Ramadan Mubarak: Ramadan officially began yesterday evening, and Sahan Journal put together a great roundup of events, fundraisers, and iftar meals coming up around the Twin Cities. [Sahan Journal]

'Protect the press': Journalist Georgia Fort and Black Lives Matter-Minnesota co-founder Trahern Crews pleaded not guilty to federal charges related to the protest at Cities Church last month. Former CNN reporter Don Lemon also pleaded not guilty to federal charges tied to the protest, where both Lemon and Fort were present documenting the event as members of the press. [🎥 City Cast Twin Cities]

What to Do

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A crossword that reads "also a street in the twin cities"
Biking around every day last summer really helped me with this week's crossword. (Sean McPherson / Crossword Labs)

Do you know your way around town? All of the answers to this week's crossword puzzle are also the names of streets in the Twin Cities.

A huge thank you to all of our new Neighbors that have joined our membership program since our last newsletter – Kathleen C., Brandon O., Carly C., Martin D., Bonnie K., and Peter G., welcome to the party! You can learn more about the benefits of becoming a City Cast Neighbor and sign up here.

— Adam Sage

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