After days of protest and outrage over the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, new information has emerged in relation to Pretti.
New videos show a previous confrontation between Pretti and federal agents, 11 days before he was fatally shot in Minneapolis.
The two-minute video, released by The News Movement on Wednesday, shows the incident that took place on January 13.
Highlights
- New video reveals Alex Pretti’s intense confrontation with ICE agents 11 days before he was fatally shot in Minneapolis.
- In the video, Pretti spits on agents, kicks a vehicle’s taillight, and is tackled to the ground by heavily armed officers.
- Pretti had a firearm tucked in his waistband during the confrontation but did not brandish it at that time.
A new video shows that Alex Pretti had a violent confrontation with ICE agents 11 days before he was killed
In the video, Pretti appears to be in a scuffle with officers during an intense community demonstration in Minneapolis, where many such protests are taking place following the ICE killing of Renee Nicole Good.
“What are you doing here?” Pretti can be heard shouting at agents who are standing next to two SUVs. He then curses at them and spits on one agent who is getting into a vehicle.
When they begin driving away, Pretti kicks the taillight of their SUV, prompting agents, identified as part of Homeland Security Investigations, to get out of the vehicle and push him to the ground.
A heavily armed agent in tactical gear can be seen exiting the car and tackling Pretti to the ground while other officers crowd around him.
Pretti remains on the ground for roughly 20 seconds before being released. Observers note that he had a firearm tucked into his waistband. However, he did not brandish it during the altercation. CNN reported that Pretti suffered a broken rib during the incident.
The video shows Pretti swearing and spitting at agents, and kicking the taillight of their SUV
In the fatal incident less than two weeks later, Pretti was shot after an agent grabbed a holstered gun from his hip. Both agents who fired their weapons, one from Border Patrol and another from Customs and Border Protection, have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
A family representative confirmed Pretti’s identity in the videos.
Image credits: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Getty Images
“A week before Alex was gunned down in the street—despite posing no threat to anyone—he was violently assaulted [by federal agents],” said the family’s lawyer, Steve Schleicher.
“Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing.”
Pretti's family has consistently defended his character and emphasized his humanitarian work as a nurse at Minneapolis’s Veterans Affairs hospital.
Video from the day he was killed contradicts a statement from the Trump administration that he was “brandishing” a gun, and instead shows him holding only a phone moments before agents fired.
The earlier confrontation occurred amid tense protests over federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Videos show officers firing pepper balls and tear gas into the crowd while holding Pretti on the ground.
Residents gathered nearby, some yelling at the agents, and one woman was forcibly removed from her vehicle after agents broke her window.
The confrontation occurred over tense protests that have been taking place in Minneapolis
Sahan Journal, a local outlet, reported that more than 100 people had gathered to observe and protest following reports of ICE presence in the neighborhood.
Aisha Gomez, a state representative present at the scene, told the outlet that agents had tackled another man and pushed his head into the ground before carrying him away.
Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, commented on the videos during a CNN town hall, saying the footage of the January 13 incident is not relevant to the circumstances of Pretti’s fatal shooting on January 24.
“I think we should be talking about the circumstances that actually led to the killing and what took place and those circumstances,” Frey said.
“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” Pretti’s family said in a statement after his killing.
“Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs … Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
While Pretti’s behavior in the earlier confrontation may have contributed to a perception of him as aggressive, it did not legally justify the lethal force that was used against him.
Image credits: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Getty Images
Many commentators on the right have accused local Democratic leaders, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, of intentionally not providing police assistance to control violent protesters in Minneapolis.
A report by The New York Post also showed that far-left groups have been behind funding and organizing anti-ICE protests, including $7.8 million financed by billionaire George Soros.
Many protesters, including Good, were allegedly part of a group called ICE Watch, a coalition of activists dedicated to disrupting ICE raids in Minneapolis, the Post said.
A part of this movement includes monitoring groups who call themselves “constitutional observers.” These volunteers appear at events to videotape immigration agents’ activity and document their vehicles in a database, MS Now reported.