The US deputy attorney general announced on Friday that the justice department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti by immigration officers last Saturday, as fierce protests continued in the city.
Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse at a veterans hospital and activist, died while protesting against aggressive immigration raids and protester-control tactics by officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, border patrol and other federal agencies. He was the third person shot during a surge of immigration enforcement personnel sent to the Twin Cities as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda, and the second to die after Renee Good was shot dead on 7 January.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the justice department is 'looking at everything that would shed light on that day', including video and witness testimony. The Department of Homeland Security also confirmed that the FBI would lead the investigation. The announcement marked a significant shift after the Trump administration had initially indicated a much narrower examination by the DHS.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem disclosed the change in investigative leadership during a Fox News interview on Thursday, and conceded she may have got some information wrong in her initial response, when she repeated allegations that Pretti had been attacking officers – a narrative contradicted by bystander video and witness testimony. Noem faces mounting calls to resign, with North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis saying her conduct 'should be disqualifying'.
Videos of the shooting show Pretti holding his mobile phone as officers tackled him, and he did not appear to reach for the gun he had a permit to carry. Another video from 13 January shows an altercation between Pretti and federal officers, during which he was forced to the ground.
