Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size.

As Minnesota residents and people across the U.S. were reeling from the killing of protester Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents on Saturday — the second fatal shooting by federal immigration agents in the city in less than three weeks — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Governor Tim Walz, telling him it is in his power to “restore the rule of law” in his state.

One suggestion the attorney general gave amounted to a “shakedown,” said US Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and had nothing to do with the Trump administration’s persistent claims that immigrants have caused a crisis in Minnesota. Bondi demanded the Democratic governor turn over voter rolls for the state, as she has called on all 50 states and Washington, D.C. to do, prompting legal challenges from voting rights groups and voters.

Bondi wrote that Walz must allow the Department of Justice (DOJ) to access voter rolls to “confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law.”

“Fulfilling this commonsense request will better guarantee free and fair elections and boost confidence in the rule of law,” she wrote.

Gallego accused the DOJ of “using fear to get their hands on voter........

© Truthout