Three newly discovered videos show a confrontation between Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis ICU nurse, and federal agents 11 days before he was fatally shot. The footage, published by the News Movement, shows an incident on 13 January in which officers appeared to grab Pretti and bring him to the ground during protests against a federal crackdown.
The videos show Pretti yelling at agents in an unmarked vehicle, then spitting at the vehicle and kicking a tail light out as it moved away. A heavily armed agent in tactical gear then exited the car and tackled Pretti to the ground, with other officers crowding around. Pretti broke free shortly after and remained on the scene as agents left. The footage shows what appears to be a gun in his waistband, which state officials confirmed he had a permit to carry. He did not touch it during the altercation.
Steve Schleicher, an attorney for Pretti's family, said in a statement: 'A week before Alex was gunned down in the street – despite posing no threat to anyone – he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing.' The family confirmed Pretti sustained injuries but did not seek medical care.
A separate bystander video published by the Minnesota Star Tribune shows the same incident, with witness Max Shapiro saying Pretti 'got slammed to the ground pretty hard.' A third video from YouTube captures the roiling anger over the immigration enforcement operation, with cars honking and people blowing whistles to alert neighbours. The Department of Homeland Security said it was reviewing the footage.
Right-wing commentators, including Donald Trump, claimed Pretti spat on federal agents, but the third video shows he spat on the vehicle. During the incident, agents fired teargas and pepper balls into the crowd. The confrontation occurred four blocks from where Renee Good had been killed by an ICE officer the previous week. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the prior incident was not relevant to Pretti's killing.
