Over the weekend, differing narratives emerged regarding the Minneapolis shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, with the Trump administration characterizing him as a violent resistor, while his family portrayed him as a “kind-hearted soul.” This conflict of perspectives adds complexity to understanding the tragic event.
Pretti, who served as an ICU nurse for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, became the latest victim in a string of violence in Minneapolis, being the second person shot and killed in the city this month. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that Pretti was armed and “violently resisted” arrest, prompting a federal agent to shoot him out of fear for his own safety.
However, video footage of the incident tells a more nuanced story. It reveals that an agent had disarmed Pretti shortly before the shooting occurred. The confrontation began when Pretti attempted to come to the aid of another protester who had been shoved by law enforcement officers, leading to a scuffle with the agents.
In response to the incident, a federal judge issued an order on Sunday to prevent the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to the shooting. This ruling followed a legal action initiated by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Saturday, aimed at safeguarding evidence in the case.
The undated photograph shared by Michael Pretti, Alex’s relative, captures a moment before his tragic encounter with law enforcement, showing a different side of the man who was shot by a federal officer in Minneapolis on January 24, 2026.
The ruling came after the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension filed a lawsuit Saturday to prevent the destruction of evidence in the case.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, names DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and U.S. Border Control, as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi, as defendants.
In granting the temporary injunction, Judge Eric Tostrud wrote that federal officials and those acting on their behalf cannot destroy evidence taken from the scene of the south Minneapolis shooting or now in their exclusive custody, which state authorities say they were previously barred from inspecting.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks beside a screen showing an image of a handgun during a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)
A hearing on the order has been scheduled for Monday.
Pretti’s parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, said Saturday that they are “heartbroken but also very angry,” and condemned the version of events presented by law enforcement as “sickening lies.”
“Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital,” the couple wrote.
A screengrab from a video shows a law enforcement officer spraying irritants at Alex Pretti before he was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026. (Reuters)
“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” they continued.
Meanwhile, Trump highlighted that Pretti was armed and carrying two extra magazines at the time of the shooting. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller went further than other members of the administration, calling Pretti a “would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal law enforcement,” adding that he is a “domestic terrorist.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison had demanded a “a full, impartial, and transparent investigation” into the shooting.
A federal agent fires a munition toward demonstrators near the site where Alex Pretti was fatally shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026. (Tim Evans/Reuters)
Ellison said he shares “intense grief and anger” over Pretti’s death and condemned ICE’s presence in Minnesota as an “illegal and unconstitutional occupation.”
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