Topline
In trying to defend the killing of Alex Pretti on Saturday, Trump administration officials repeatedly tried to portray him as a violent domestic terrorist—even an “assassin”—running counter to emerging video evidence and first-person accounts of the deadly encounter.
Flowers are left at a makeshift memorial in the area where Alex Pretti was shot dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital, was shot at least 10 times by Border Patrol agents in Minnesota on Saturday, after he appeared to intervene in an altercation between ICE agents and other observers.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed after Pretti’s death he had “violently resisted” officers and that the incident “look[ed] like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
Similar claims have been made by top Trump officials, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claiming Pretti “attacked” law enforcement while “brandishing” a gun, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller describing Pretti as an “assassin [who] tried to murder federal agents”—with both said he appeared to be a domestic terrorist.
But video footage shows Pretti, a licensed gun owner who was carrying at the time, never took out his gun, and law enforcement took the firearm away before he was first shot.
Video evidence and sworn witness testimony indicate Pretti approached law enforcement during their altercation with other civilians, filming the incident on his phone but never taking out his gun or acting violently toward officers.
ICE agents pepper-sprayed Pretti and the other civilians before tackling Pretti to the ground, with multiple agents then shooting him, evidence shows.
What Has Trump Said?
President Donald Trump suggested Pretti’s death was the result of “Democrat run Sanctuary Cities and States that] are REFUSING to cooperate with ICE,” issuing a Truth Social post Saturday that decried Democrats’ opposition to his immigration policies and claimed, “Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos.” In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Trump did not say whether he believed the agents who shot Pretti acted appropriately, saying only, “We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination.” The president also criticized Pretti for carrying a gun, saying, ““I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it … But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.” When asked Monday about other administration officials using the term “domestic terrorist” to describe Pretti, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she had “not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way” and claimed Trump “wants to let the facts and the investigation lead itself.”
What Have Trump Administration Officials Said?
Noem claimed on Saturday that Pretti “had a weapon on him, and multiple – dozens – of rounds of ammunition; wishing to inflict harm on these officers, coming, brandishing like that.” (“Brandishing” a gun means to display it in an intimidating manner, which there is no evidence Pretti did.) FBI Director Kash Patel similarly claimed Sunday that Pretti was trying to “attack” law enforcement and falsely claimed the victim did not have a right to carry a gun at a protest, which multiple gun rights groups have criticized as false. “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have a right to break the law,” Patel told Fox Business, though there is no evidence Pretti was acting unlawfully. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino claimed it “looks like” Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” though in an interview with CNN on Sunday, the immigration official could not support his claims Pretti “assaulted federal officers.”
U.s. Officials Softened Their Description Of Pretti
Federal officials have appeared to somewhat temper their language as time has passed since Pretti’s death: Noem has not repeated the false claims that Pretti “brandished” his gun and said Sunday only that he was “laying hands on law enforcement,” rather than attacking them. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also shied away Monday from describing Pretti’s actions toward law enforcement as an act of “domestic terrorism,” after Noem and Miller used that language over the weekend. Leavitt, asked Monday about why officials “jumped to conclusions” about Peretti, responded, “This has obviously been a very fluid and fast moving situation.” The press secretary said she only “speak[s] for” Trump, who “wants to let the investigation continue.”
What Does Video Evidence Show?
Video of Pretti’s killing confirmed by The New York Times appears to show Pretti approaching federal border agents as they speak to civilians while a person is being detained. He is filming the scene. After border agents shove one of the civilians to the ground, Pretti appears to put himself between the civilians and law enforcement, still holding his phone to record. At no point does Pretti appear to be engaging in any violence toward law enforcement. The agents pepper spray the civilians and tackle Pretti to the ground, at which point The Times notes one agent struck Pretti with a pepper spray canister while another appeared to pull Pretti’s gun from him and remove it from the scene. While Pretti was on the ground being restrained, ICE agents then fired shots at Pretti, appearing to fire at least 10 shots within the span of five seconds, The Times notes.
What Have Witnesses Said?
Multiple witnesses filed sworn declarations about Pretti’s death in a court case over the deployment of ICE agents to Minnesota. An unnamed children’s entertainer who witnessed Pretti’s death said they went to the scene because whistles alerted them to the fact that ICE agents were in the area. Pretti appeared to be “sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly” as the witness arrived on the scene, while filming the scene, and after an agent asked the witness and other observers to move back, Pretti stayed in the street and continued filming, later approaching agents as they “threatened” other observers at the scene. “I didn’t see [Pretti] reach for or hold a gun,” the witness noted. After ICE agents “shoved” another observer to the ground and started pepper-spraying Pretti and the other observers, Pretti “put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him,” the witness said. Pretti was “tr[ying] to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground” when ICE agents grabbed him and “pulled” him onto the ground, with the witness noting, “It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up.” The agents then started shooting Pretti, according to the witness, who wrote, “I don’t know why they shot him. He was only helping.” Another witness, a 29-year-old pediatrician, arrived on the scene after witnessing the shooting from their apartment, noting they did not see Pretti “attack the agents or brandish a weapon of any kind.” The witness approached Pretti to administer medical help, testifying none of the agents were trying to administer CPR and Pretti was lying on his side, which is not proper procedure after someone had been shot. Rather than checking for a pulse or administering CPR, the witness wrote, the federal agents “appeared to be counting his bullet wounds.”
Chief Critics
Pretti’s family and friends vehemently condemned the Trump administration’s comments about the killing and efforts to describe him as violent, instead characterizing him as a kind nurse who cared deeply about helping others. Pretti’s parents slammed the administration’s “sickening lies” about their son and said they were “heartbroken but also very angry,” describing Pretti in a statement as a “kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends” and “wanted to make a difference in this world” before his death. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man,” they wrote.
How Pretti Response Echoes Trump Officials’ Descriptions Of Renee Good
The Trump administration’s effort to cast blame on Pretti after his death is in line with how the federal government responded to the death of Renee Good, another U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minnesota on Jan. 7. Trump and his top officials similarly criticized Good in the wake of her killing, falsely claiming she was trying to hit the ICE agent with her car despite video evidence showing otherwise. Noem and Vice President J.D. Vance described Good as a “domestic terrorist” whose actions were “an attack on law and order,” with Vance alleging the victim was a left-wing activist who was part of a purported “network” that was “trying to incite violence” against immigration agents. There is no evidence to support those claims. Trump also criticized Good, telling The Times she “behaved horribly … and then she ran him over.” When the Times presented video evidence showing that did not happen, the president reportedly sidestepped the question of whether Good ran over the ICE agent and just responded, “I — the way I look at it … It’s a terrible scene.”
Key Background
Pretti’s shooting escalated existing tensions in Minnesota and across the country over ICE agents and the Trump administration’s hardline immigration tactics. Tensions first escalated in Minnesota after Good’s death, sparking protests throughout the Minneapolis area and leading Trump to deploy thousands more federal agents to the city. Pretti’s death has sparked national outrage among Trump administration critics and even some Republicans. Several GOP senators have called for an investigation into the incident and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Sunday he thought the president was “getting bad advice.” Trump said Monday he was sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota in the wake of Pretti’s death and had spoken with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, claiming the two “seemed to be on the same wavelength” about deescalating tensions.