The NBA has postponed a game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 24.
The league released a statement shortly before gametime to confirm that the Timberwolves and the Warriors would not be playing on Saturday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis, as originally scheduled. The decision was taken following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning, according to The New York Times.
“The National Basketball Association game scheduled for today between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center has been postponed,” the NBA said in a statement. “The decision was made to prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community.”
The Timberwolves’ game against the Warriors was moved to Sunday, January 25, at 5:30 p.m. ET, airing on NBA TV from the Target Center. Saturday’s game had been scheduled to air originally on ABC.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the fatal shooting occurred early Saturday morning when Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun” and “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
Many on social media argued that Pretti confronted Border Patrol agents with a phone — not a gun — once amateur footage of the encounter was released.
At a press conference on Saturday, Minneapolis Police Department Chief Brian O’Hara said that Pretti seemingly had no criminal record but did have a valid permit to carry a firearm.
“Our demand today is, for those federal agencies that are operating in our city, to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement in this country demands,” O’Hara requested. “We urge everyone to remain peaceful. We recognize that there is a lot of anger and a lot of questions around what has happened. But we need people to remain peaceful.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz pushed back on the Department of Homeland Security’s official explanation for the shooting during a separate media scrum on Saturday.
“In no uncertain terms … we will investigate this,” Walz, 61, promised reporters.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz arrive during a vigil for Renee Good in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
He went on, “I understand the courage in having people out there [monitoring ICE]. Thank God we have video. Because, according to DHS, these seven heroic guys took an onslaught of a battalion against them or something. It’s nonsense, people. It is nonsense and it’s lies.”
This latest incident follows a tense few weeks of protests against ICE activity in Minnesota. Reports suggest that activist and poet Renée Good was shot to death on January 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross while behind the wheel of her car. (Good was acting as a legal observer to ICE raids in Minnesota at the time.)
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr condemned Good’s shooting death as “shameful” while speaking to reporters earlier in January, per Fox News.
“[It’s] so very demoralizing, devastating to lose anyone’s life, especially in that manner. So it’s terrible, terribly sad for her family, and for her, and that city,” Kerr, 60, said.
The Minnesota Timberwolves held a moment of silence in Good’s honor before their 131-122 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 8.
“As we all know, our community has suffered yet another unspeakable tragedy,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of the shooting. “We want to just convey our condolences and heartfelt wishes and prayers and thoughts to the families and loved ones and all of those that are greatly affected by what happened.”
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