New videos show altercation between Alex Pretti and federal agents the week before his death
Pretti is seen kicking the taillight of a federal vehicle in the Jan. 13 video, which then shows an agent pushing him to the ground.
Alex Pretti, the man Border Patrol agents killed Saturday in Minneapolis, had been recorded in an altercation with federal immigration agents the week before his death.
Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, was recorded having an interaction with uniformed agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 13, according to video recorded by the media company The News Movement. A family representative confirmed that Pretti is depicted in the video and that the family knew about the incident after it happened.
The outlet said it responded to a tip about agents blocking the road at the intersection of East 36th Street and Park Avenue shortly after 10 a.m. that day.
The video shows Pretti yelling at federal immigration agents and kicking the back of a vehicle used by agents, breaking a taillight. It is not clear what happened before the interaction.
The video shows an agent getting out of the vehicle, grabbing Pretti and tackling him to the ground as witnesses scream “Stop! Stop!” Meanwhile, other uniformed agents deploy what appears to be gas or smoke toward the crowd.
At least three agents try to keep Pretti down, but he manages to get away and rushes toward people standing nearby, according to the video.
At one point when he turns, what appears to be a gun is visible, tucked into the back of his waistband. He does not ever appear to reach for it in the clip.
He and others continue to yell at the agents, ordering them to leave. Soon after, the intersection is overwhelmed with smoke deployed by the agents, cars honking and people yelling. The News Movement reported that shortly after the altercation, federal agents drove away.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Homeland Security Investigations is reviewing the video. People in vests that appeared to say Police Homeland Security Investigations could be seen in the video.
Steve Schleicher, the attorney for the Pretti 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 at the hands of ICE on Jan. 24.”
Max Shapiro had also recorded the interaction on Jan. 13. He was tipped off by Signal chats and friends in the area about Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence at the intersection and went because his son’s day care center was nearby.
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“As I approached, it appeared that Mr. Pretti had kicked out a taillight, and then, as you see in the video, an agent grabs him and throws him on the ground,” Shapiro told NBC News.
Shapiro said he spoke to Pretti once three federal vehicles pulled out of the area.
“I went up to him and I gave him a half-hug. I had my phone in one hand, and I sort of hugged him with the other,” he said.
“I asked him, ‘Are you good, are you OK?’ He says: ‘Yep, I’m good, I’m OK. Are we all OK? Are we safe? We OK?” Shapiro said. “He was making sure that everyone was safe.”
Eleven days after that interaction, Pretti was killed in a confrontation with federal immigration agents.
A preliminary DHS report sent to Congress said two federal officers fired their weapons during the altercation.
That report did not confirm Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s claims that Pretti was “brandishing a gun.”
Pretti was armed and had a permit to carry a firearm, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has said. Multiple videos recorded by eyewitnesses that were verified and analyzed by NBC News show Pretti did not hold a weapon during the Jan. 24 struggle as agents surrounded him. One video shows an agent removing a gun from Pretti’s waist area just before he was shot.
Both agents who fired shots were placed on administrative leave immediately after the shooting, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
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