Minnesota’s business community has been largely silent amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the state despite widespread backlash, but the latest shooting death by federal agents spurred a plea for peace.
In an open letter Sunday from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, more than 60 CEOs said the business community has been working behind the scenes with officials for several weeks. That includes Gov. Tim Walz, the White House, Vice President JD Vance, and local mayors.
“With yesterday’s tragic news, we are calling for an immediate de-escalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions,” it added.
The statement notably avoids any criticism and stops short of calling for immigration officers to leave the city, which Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and other elected officials have done.
That’s despite Saturday’s shooting marking the third one in the state this month, and the second deadly one. It also followed days of reports about immigration officers in Minnesota detaining young children, arresting U.S. citizens, and forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants.
Video evidence also contradicted the Trump administration’s claim that Alex Pretti, who was a nurse in a veterans hospital, threatened the Border Patrol before being shot.
“In this difficult moment for our community, we call for peace and focused cooperation among local, state and federal leaders to achieve a swift and durable solution that enables families, businesses, our employees, and communities across Minnesota to resume our work to build a bright and prosperous future,” the Chamber of Commerce letter added.
It was signed by numerous companies and executives, including bosses for Fortune 500 companies like 3M, Best Buy, General Mills, Land O’Lakes, Target, UnitedHealth, U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy, and Hormel.
Target in particular has come under scrutiny during the immigration crackdown as a prominent Minnesota company.
ICE has detained employees working at the retail giant’s stores, and community activists are demanding that Target take a stand against the raids.
Meanwhile, tech leaders in Silicon Valley are speaking out and more clearly taking sides against the Trump administration.
Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, simply posted “Murderers” while reacting to footage of the shooting.
Kath Korevec, director of product at Google Labs, wrote, “This video is too painful to watch, and yet we have to burn it into our memories. ‘They had already disarmed him’ is the key fact here. Then they executed him. It’s shameful. No matter what side you’re on, what happened today is unacceptable.”
In a follow-up post, she warned “it’s only a matter of time before they show up in force here in the Bay Area.”
