Karl-Anthony Towns no longer wears a Timberwolves uniform, but Minnesota still does. And in a weekend when Minneapolis has been forced to mourn, Towns used his platform to say what many in the Twin Cities have been pleading to hear from people with power: that grief without accountability is not enough.
“What is happening in the Twin Cities and the Great North Star State is heartbreaking to witness,” Towns wrote. “These events have cost lives and shaken families — and we must call for accountability, transparency, and protections for all people. This moment demands that we reflect honestly on what our values truly are. … My thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences are with the families of Renée Good and Alex Pretti. I stand with the people of Minnesota.”
What is happening in the Twin Cities and the Great North Star State is heartbreaking to witness. These events have cost lives and shaken families — and we must call for accountability, transparency, and protections for all people. This moment demands that we reflect honestly on…
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) January 26, 2026
The names he chose to include, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, are the reason Minnesota’s sports calendar has felt secondary. Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was killed in Minneapolis during an immigration enforcement operation involving federal agents. Authorities initially claimed he posed a threat, but video and witness accounts contradict the government’s version of events, intensifying calls for transparency and independent scrutiny. Good was killed weeks earlier in a separate incident also involving federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, a death that had already ignited protest and fear before Pretti’s killing deepened the sense of a community being repeatedly shaken.
Towns’ statement landed in the middle of a rare moment when the NBA world was openly absorbing the atmosphere of a city in pain. Minnesota’s game against Golden State had been postponed, then played under a pall of grief and unrest; both coaches and players described how hard it was to separate the game from what was happening outside the arena. Broader sports solidarity followed as well, with the National Basketball Players Association issuing a statement supporting protesters and calling attention to civil liberties and the human stakes surrounding the events in Minnesota.
Statement from the NBPA and its Executive Committee on the Fatal Shooting in Minneapolis by ICE.
“There comes a time when silence is betrayal” -MLK pic.twitter.com/ka6CjhfHBb
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) January 25, 2026
What makes Towns’ words resonate is that they aren’t vague. He didn’t offer only condolences. He demanded “accountability” and “transparency,” terms that carry specific weight in cases involving lethal force: clear timelines, preserved evidence, credible investigations, public explanations that match verifiable facts. And he widened the frame beyond any one incident, calling for “protections for all people,” language that reads like a response to the fear many communities feel when enforcement expands and ordinary civic life begins to feel unpredictable.
