A little earlier, we reported on the pushback the White House is facing from some Republicans concerning federal agents' handling of deportations and protests.

Now, Chris Madel has withdrawn his bid to be the Republican candidate in Minnesota's gubernatorial election later this year.

Madel says he's bringing his campaign to a halt as he cannot support national Republicans' approach of "state retribution on the citizens of our state," adding that he could not "count myself as a member of a party that would do so".

In a 10-minute video shared on social media today, Madel says that although he agrees with some of the deportations carried out by ICE agents, the operation has "expanded far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats".

"United States citizens, particularly those of colour, live in fear. United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship. That's wrong," Madel says, adding: "Weaponising criminal investigations against political opponents is unconstitutional regardless of who is in power."

Madel's withdrawal will come as a shock to many.

Earlier this month, Madel, who is a lawyer, said he was providing legal advice to Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Good.

He also previously represented a police officer in the fatal shooting of a black man in 2023. Charges against the officer were eventually dropped in the case.

Image source, Reuters

Minnesota's push back against the surge in federal immigration officials is not only playing out as street protests but also in court.

Earlier today, a federal judge heard arguments from the Minnesota Attorney General's office challenging the constitutionality of the surge of federal agents to Minneapolis and other parts of the state.

In court documents, Minnesota state officials say the surge "is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities", referring to Minneapolis and neighbouring Saint Paul region. They have asked the judge to rule that the surge of officers is "unconstitutional and unlawful".

In court, they pointed to a recent letter from US Attorney General Pam Bondi to Governor Walz asking him to make sweeping changes to state policy, such as supporting ICE operations and handing over the state's voter records to federal officials.

US District Judge Katherine Menendez expressed concerns about the letter, suggesting it could violate a constitutional provision preventing federal officials from forcing states to implement federal laws, according to CBS, the BBC's US partner.

A lawyer for the US Justice Department said "the goal of the surge is to enforce federal law," but wouldn't commit to federal officials reducing the number of agents in Minnesota if the state complied with Bondi's demands.

Judge Menendez did not render a decision after hearing arguments today.

The BBC's Carl Nasman spoke with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison about "border tsar" Tom Homan being sent to the state and about his concerns that video evidence is not being preserved in the investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti.

White House sidelines Bovino amid fallout from fatal shootingspublished at 23:11 GMT 26 January

23:11 GMT 26 January

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

In the immediate aftermath of Alex Pretti’s shooting by federal law enforcement agents, Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino was characteristically bombastic in his comments and actions.

He said it looked like Pretti wanted to “massacre law enforcement”. His agents quickly distributed a photograph of Pretti’s handgun, implying that alone was grounds for the use of deadly force. Local law enforcement accused Bovino’s Border Patrol agents of failing to secure evidence and refusing to cooperate with their investigation into the shooting.

Notably, Donald Trump never echoed Bovino’s rhetoric, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered only tepid praise of the man who had become the face of the federal immigration enforcement effort in Minneapolis.

As with the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis weeks earlier, the president may have sensed the initial message from his officials was out of step with the public – and contradicted by ample video evidence.

Now Bovino is out – reassigned to other duties, according to US media partner CBS News. His exit comes as the White House has shifted how it is responding to fallout from Pretti’s death, which has included criticism not just from the president’s political opponents but from within law enforcement and his own party.

Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” is now handling all facets of the Minnesota operation and reporting directly to the president. Homan, while still an advocate of Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies, has more experience navigating American politics and is more measured in his public statements.

The confrontation and conflict that has engulfed Minneapolis may not be over, but with Bovino sidelined, the administration may be looking for a way to turn down the heat.

Newsnight

Antonio Romanucci, a lawyer representing the family of Renee Good, says that residents of Minneapolis are feeling "scared" after two Americans were shot by immigration agents in the city this month.

Good was killed by ICE agents after investigators say she tried to run over them with her car. Local officials dispute the federal account, and have been blocked from participating in the investigation into her death.

"It's very tense. People are scared. They don't know what the day-to-day looks like in Minneapolis," he tells Newsnight.

"We thought there was a lesson to be learned with what happened on 7 January with Renee," he says.

"Instead we saw something even more atrocious, just as atrocious, two days ago."

Image source, The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images

Moments ago, President Trump posted on his Truth Social account that he had a phone call with Democratic Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey.

"Lots of progress is being made! Tom Homan will be meeting with him tomorrow in order to continue the discussion," Trump says.

As we reported earlier, Homan, the administration's border tsar, is heading to Minnesota to meet with state and local officials.

Frey is one of the local and state officials who has been most strident in his criticism of federal immigration enforcement in the city.

Image source, Bloomberg via Getty Images

A spokesperson for Chuck Grassley, Republican senator from Iowa, says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March.

"Noem is expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3rd for one round of questioning, with each senator allotted 10 minutes for questions," the spokesperson told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

Noem's testimony comes amid growing calls from Democrats for her to resign following two high profile shooting of Americans by federal immigration agents in Minnesota this month.

Earlier, we learned that the heads of various enforcement and immigration services have been called to testify before the Homeland Security Committee.

Republican Senator Rand Paul posted on X, demanding testimony from the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

He posted pictures of his letters to Todd Lyons and Joseph Edlow (ICE acting director and director) and Rodney Scott (CBP Commissioner).

In the letters, he writes that the hearing will take place on February 12 and asks for confirmation of attendance by January 28.

A moment of silence was held for Alex Pretti before an NBA match between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

The game, which was delayed by one day after the shooting, began with a message saying the arena staff "are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Alex Pretti that occurred yesterday in Minneapolis".

“We extend our love, support and heartfelt sympathies to Alex’s family, friends and our community during this difficult time.”

The silence was at times punctuated by fans shouting obscenities directed at the federal agents who shot him.

Image source, Reuters

Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino is expected to soon depart from the Minneapolis area, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

The outspoken official has been the face of Trump's immigration crackdown, and has been present in several other cities where his agents have been making immigration arrests.

It comes amid a backlash to comments made by him and other Trump officials, claiming that the nurse who was killed on Saturday was intending to "massacre" federal agents.

Sarah Smith
North America editor

There is a marked change in tone from the White House today – even if we have not yet seen a change in policy.

Donald Trump can obviously sense a potential public backlash to the violent tactics being used by ICE agents in Minneapolis. As can a number of senior Republican politicians who have spoken out to criticise the killing of Alex Pretti.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy called the incident “incredibly disturbing” as he called for a full investigation. “Americans don’t like what they are seeing right now,” said Kevin Stitt, the Republican governor of Oklahoma.

Even the normally loyal Congressman James Comer talked about innocent lives being lost and suggested Trump should think about removing ICE agents from Minnesota and sending them elsewhere.

Remarks that are in stark contrast to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem describing Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” or Greg Bovino, who said he had set out to “massacre law enforcement” officers. Videos of the incident that have since emerged contradict these early statements from the administration.

Trump has avoided using incendiary rhetoric about Saturday’s shooting. And after weeks of lobbing insults and accusations at the Democrat governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, Trump today said they “seemed to be on a similar wavelength” after a phone call.

By sending his border tsar, Tom Homan, to take control of the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, President Trump is clearly hoping to calm the situation. It’s notable that Homan will report directly to the president, cutting out the senior officials who were so quick to defend ICE agents and to try to blame Pretti.

Donald Trump will continue to defend his immigration agenda and his determination to deport as many illegal immigrants as possible. But he can see that a swift de-escalation is required if he is not to lose significant public support for his signature policy.

Image source, Reuters

Republican governor of Texas Greg Abbott - a long-time Trump ally - says he expects the president's team to be "working on a game plan" to "recalibrate" after the recent incidents between immigration agents and protestors in Minneapolis.

In a podcast appearance, Abbott suggests law enforcement officials - including ICE - need to be respected by the communities they operate in.

"They [the White House] need to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that respect is going to be reinstalled," he explains.

"I know they are working on a game plan to make sure they are going to recalibrate or maybe work from a different direction to get back to what they wanted to do to begin with," he continues, stressing the objective is to remove people who are in the US illegally.

This means, Abbott suggests, finding ways to remove these people "without causing all the kinds of problems and fighting in communities that they are experiencing right now".

Some of the Department of Homeland Security agents who were present during Pretti's shooting were wearing body cameras, according to CBS News, the BBC's US media partner, as well as other US outlets.

CBS reports that two of the agents were wearing body cameras at the time of the fatal shooting.

An official with the Department of Homeland Security told US media that the agency is currently reviewing footage that captures the shooting from "multiple angles".

During a White House briefing earlier today, Trump's press secretary was asked whether any police body camera footage would be released.

Karoline Leavitt said that Trump has not committed to releasing any bodycam videos.

Image source, Reuters

The way Border Patrol is acting in Minnesota is "unconstitutional", says Irv Miller, legal analyst for the Chicago affiliate of the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Miller is also the former assistant state's attorney of Cook County and the supervisor of the Felony Review Unit, and has been involved in prosecuting criminals, including police officers.

He told the BBC: "There's good reason why local authorities didn't want to get involved with helping ICE or Homeland Security out with these tactics [like] throwing chemical weapons at people that were just protesting."

Miller accused US Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino of "making the same wrong decisions over and over again" and questioned why he is still "allowed to make decisions or publicise his decisions".

Miller said he believes Bovino "violated internal policies of his agency" and should be investigated by the administration. If "it turns out that he violated rules and regulations or laws in his capacity, he should be fired", Miller added.

President Donald Trump's "border tsar" has been sent to Minnesota following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents, though Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Bovino would continue to lead Customs and Border Patrol "throughout and across the country".

Carl Nasman
Reporting from Minneapolis

When I spoke with him earlier, I also asked Minnesota AG Keith Ellison about reports that Tom Homan, President Trump’s border czar, is being dispatched to the state. Would he be easier to work with than DHS officials currently running enforcement operations here?

“I wouldn’t say anybody over there is easy to work with. But… when his colleagues were declaring Jonathan Ross innocent and Renee Good a terrorist, he seemed to demonstrate a little more police professionalism. So that’s a good thing. Maybe that is an avenue. I don’t want to foreclose the possibility that reasonable minds can prevail, but we are here exactly because the federal government had unreasonable positions.”

Image source, Getty Images

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has labelled Donald Trump's decision to send his top border official, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis "a very smart move".

"Tom is the right man to find a way to de-escalate the situation," he writes on social media, suggesting Homan will ensure criminals "that present a threat to the public" will be handed over to federal authorities.

"I am glad to see Tom is back in the game because we need a new set of eyes and someone with his experience to help turn around the problems of the moment and the future," he says.

Graham has long been a staunch ally of the US president.

What does Trump's deployment of border tsar Homan mean?published at 20:01 GMT 26 January

20:01 GMT 26 January

Daniel Bush
Washington Correspondent

President Donald Trump’s decision Monday to send White House border tsar Tom Homan to Minneapolis has sparked speculation about a possible shift in the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement.

Homan will be front and centre in the growing nationwide debate over the fatal shooting in recent weeks of two US citizens by federal agents.

In his role as border tsar, Homan has consistently defended Trump’s immigration crackdown. Homan has also joined Trump in blaming state and local Democrats for the violence in Minneapolis, claiming that immigration enforcement measures aren’t being met with violent resistance in Republican-controlled states.

But Homan has generally operated further outside of the spotlight than Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the main administration official in charge of Trump’s overall immigration agenda. Noem has drawn criticism for her combative approach.

Trump praised Homan online on Monday, saying he is “tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump said. The decision to send Homan to Minneapolis instead of Noem immediately sparked rumors of a possible shakeup at DHS.

But it’s too early to know if Trump plans to make major personnel changes or overhaul his immigration agenda in response to the shootings, though he has signaled openness to making some adjustments.

The White House also expressed support for Noem on Monday, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt telling Reuters she will "continue to lead the Department of Homeland Security with the full trust and confidence of the President".

There was significant turnover among Trump’s top advisers in his first term in office, when the president fired several senior officials abruptly and without warning. So far in his second term, Trump has avoided similar turmoil by keeping his core team intact.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Minneapolis

When the operation in Minneapolis started, many members of the city's immigrant community were on edge.

Some people said they went into hiding. Neighbours are helping by bringing groceries, by taking their children to school, so that immigrants - some here undocumented and some who, despite having US citizenship, were worried about federal immigration officials' presence - could better cope.

But some city residents can't afford to go into hiding. We met a Somalian immigrant who works for a ride-share app and told us his teenage son begged him not to go out in the streets while the immigration operations were ongoing.

He says the large Somalian community has been in the city for decades and feels integrated into Minneapolis - this now just puts them on edge, he says.

What's changed in recent weeks, since the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, is that now it's not just immigrants who are concerned about the operations.

Multiple residents who are US citizens have told us some iteration of the same quote, "I guess now it can happen to me too".

Carl Nasman
Reporting from Minneapolis

I caught up with Keith Ellison, the Attorney General of Minnesota, during a courtroom break in Minneapolis. He along other state and local officials are arguing two crucial legal cases today.

The first asks a federal judge to temporarily halt the surge of federal immigration officers in the city. The second hearing revolves around a previous ruling ordering the Trump Administration to preserve evidence related to the shooting of Alex Pretti.

Ellison told me he is concerned that footage from cameras worn by immigration agents involved in the shooting of Alex Pretti – or from Pretti’s smartphone - might not be preserved.

“I am so concerned that the video is not being preserved that I sought an order from a district court just a couple of nights ago. Look – this is the third shooting in the last two weeks and the second death. And in the two preceding ones, where we trusted the federal government to act responsibly, they didn’t. So we had to go to a court and get a court order. What other choice did I have? That’s how concerned I am. This is unprecedented.”

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

We've just wrapped up Karoline Leavitt's briefing at the White House, which was unlike most that take place.

It was exceedingly brief, clocking in at just about 30 minutes.

While there were a number of questions on other topics, it was dominated by questions about the shooting in Minneapolis and its aftermath.

And while White House briefings are often extremely combative affairs, today Leavitt seemed eager to avoid any direct clashes with reporters in the room, repeatedly circling back to Trump's comments or the ongoing investigations.

In particular, she seemed eager to avoid any exchange focused on the comments by administration officials, including Stephen Miller, that Alex Pretti was on the street that day with the intention of killing officers, or that there are internal disputes or tensions among the officials most involved

She did, however, continue to blame rhetoric from Democratic politicians - and the media - for creating the wider situation that led to Pretti's death.

We've just heard from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Here's what you might have missed if you're just joining us:

• Leavitt says the administration is investigating the killing of Alex Pretti
• Leavitt says Minnesota's local and state officials are to blame for the chaos and violence that has ensued following a surge of federal agents into the state which has led to protests and the killing of at least two Americans by officers
• Leavitt declined to repeat previous comments by administration officials describing Pretti as a "would-be assassin" or "domestic terrorist", saying that the president wants an investigation to play out
• She says the deployment of "border tsar" Tom Homan to Minneapolis later today instead of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is due to logistics, as Noem deals with winter storm fall-out. She reiterated the president still has confidence in Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security
• Leavitt says the administration will not at this time commit to the public release of body-worn camera footage of Pretti's shooting by a federal officer
• Leavitt says the White House wants to see the upcoming government funding bill passed as-is, without separating out DHS funding

Stay with us as we bring you more news and updates from our reporters on the ground in Minneapolis.

Image source, Getty Images

Leavitt is asked about a bill before Congress that includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Would the administration be willing to separate that funding from the larger government spending package, in order to avoid a government shutdown?

Leavitt says that the White House wants to see the appropriations bill passed as it is.

She says that "discussions" are taking place between the Trump administration and Democrats on the topic of immigration enforcement, but that these disagreements "should not come at the expense" of funding the government.

She adds that were the appropriations bill to fail in Congress, it would also mean that emergency funding would not be distributed to the states currently undergoing a weather emergency.

With that, the briefing ends.