The recent death of Minneapolis nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti has sparked a heated discussion about whether he truly posed a threat to Department of Homeland Security officers.
Federal authorities, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, maintain that Pretti, 37, “brandished” a legally-owned firearm at officers who were attempting to detain an undocumented immigrant last Saturday morning.
According to a department spokesperson, Pretti was fatally shot after allegedly approaching U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.
However, videos captured by several witnesses raise significant questions about this narrative. The footage seemingly shows an agent disarming Pretti moments before any shots were fired.
The videos depict Pretti standing in the street, recording a Border Patrol operation while a small group of anti-ICE demonstrators blew whistles and shouted.
In the recordings, Pretti is seen holding a phone in his right hand, with his left hand appearing to be empty.
Two women were filmed being forcefully pushed backward by an agent wearing a brown beanie.
It is unclear what prompted that altercation.
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, could be seen the street filming with his phone while a small group confronts a federal agent. His other hand appeared to be empty
Pretti is seen holding his phone and appearing to speak or film as he engages with federal agents
Pretti can be seen holding a bright, shiny object during a struggle with federal agents
Pretti put his arm around one woman as the agent shoved the other to the floor.
He moved to confront the agent, who pushed Pretti away with his left hand and pepper sprayed him with his right, as another agent arrived.
Pretti used his left hand to try to block the pepper spray and his right to grab the woman on the floor.
Pretti could be seen holding a shiny object aloft in the air. It is unclear if this was his phone or something else, but the officer he was engaging with did not shout ‘gun’ or brandish his own weapon at the sight of it.
A chaotic tussle broke out as around six more agents arrived. Pretti was face down on his knees, resisting as the agents pinned him down. The agent wearing a brown beanie struck him in the head with his gun.
The two women scrambled away, one seemingly unable to stand.
Then comes the most crucial moment that has raised questions over whether Noem and the DHS have got their facts right.
An agent wearing blue jeans and a light gray hat and jacket could be seen apparently removing a gun from Pretti’s waistband or holster, then moving away.
That gun resembled the firearm DHS later identified as belonging to Pretti.
Moments after, an agent wearing a black beanie appeared to shoot Pretti at close range, from the side or behind.
He backed away and continued to fire.
The agent wearing a brown beanie also appeared to fire at Pretti. Roughly 10-12 shots are fired within five seconds.
A law enforcement officer retrieves what appears to be a gun from Alex Pretti before he is shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis
Several agents wrestle Pretti down, forcing him to the ground and pin him down
The Border Patrol Union appeared to put forward their own justification as to how events unfolded without hours of the shooting taking place
Department of Homeland Security officials have sought to blame Pretti for his own death.
But Democrats and civil-liberties advocates point out that Minnesota is an open-carry state, meaning it is generally legal to carry a firearm without a permit, and argue that the videos raise serious questions about whether Pretti posed an immediate threat at the time force was used.
Federal officials have not publicly explained why multiple shots were fired after Pretti was pinned to the ground or clarified when officers first became aware that he was armed.
Nevertheless, federal officials have stood firmly by their account.
The man killed was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, an intensive care unit nurse
Pretti was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed outdoor pursuits including mountain biking
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the agents’ actions, repeatedly insisting at a press conference that Pretti had ‘brandished’ a weapon, as video of the encounter continues to draw scrutiny
At a press conference, a journalist asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directly: ‘Did he brandish a gun? At what point did law enforcement retrieve the gun and magazines from him?’
Noem responded, ‘This individual showed up to impede a law enforcement operation and assaulted our officers. They responded according to their training and took action to defend the officer’s life and those of the public around him.’
‘I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign. This is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons and are using them to assault law enforcement officers,’ she added.
Pressed again by a reporter who noted that video ‘appears to show him disarmed before shots were fired,’ and asked who was leading the federal investigation, Noem declined to address the timing shown in the footage.
‘We’re continuing to follow the exact same protocols that we always have. This investigation is ongoing, we are continuing to gather the facts as they unfold… we will continue to release information as it becomes available.’
Noem then broadened her remarks, saying she did not want to ‘distract from the facts of this situation,’ before adding new details about the underlying operation.
‘Our law enforcement officers were there doing a targeted operation against an individual who was in this country illegally and had a criminal conviction for domestic assault with intent to do bodily harm,’ she said.
‘This individual went and impeded their law enforcement operations, attacked those officers, had a weapon on him and multiple, dozens of rounds of ammunition.’
She concluded by repeating the administration’s central claim: ‘Wishing to inflict harm on those officers coming brandishing like that and impeding the work they were doing.’
