Published: 11:40 AM, 29 January 2026
US administrators' official versions fail to quell protests against immigration raids
First, we saw their faces: A man shielding someone who'd been pepper-sprayed and forced to the ground. A wide-eyed 5-year-old with a bunny-ear hat and a Spiderman backpack. A grandfather being led through the snow wearing only boxers, Crocs and a blanket. A woman behind the wheel of an SUV whose last recorded words were, "I'm not mad at you, dude."
Later, we came to know their names: Alex Pretti, Liam Conejo Ramos, ChongLy Scott Thao and Renee Good, reports CNN.
And swiftly, we heard authorities' accounts of who they were. But the Trump administration's official versions of what occurred - challenged by numerous witness accounts, local officials and activists - haven't quelled protests on the streets of Minneapolis or stopped mounting criticism of authorities' aggressive tactics. And experts say the images of Pretti, Conejo, Thao and Good are a big reason why.
Even as the moments that first brought national attention to these four individuals have passed, the images have lingered - and they're shaping the way some Americans see the Trump administration's crackdown.
"What we're seeing in Minneapolis is how powerful visuals tied to real people can shift public understanding almost instantly," says Allissa Richardson, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School.
When thousands of federal authorities surged into Minnesota earlier this month, officials heralded the latest phase of their national immigration crackdown and its oft-touted mission: capturing the "worst of the worst."
But a dramatically different narrative emerged with head-spinning speed over the past few weeks as journalists, bystanders and protesters shared images of what they witnessed.
Hours after US citizens Pretti and Good were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, Department of Homeland Security officials called them "domestic terrorists" who were trying to harm officers. A day after Thao, also a US citizen, was removed from his home and marched through the snow, a DHS spokeswoman said agents had taken him for questioning because he lived with two wanted sex offenders.
