WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Pretti was forcefully taken to the ground by federal immigration agents after kicking out the tail light of their vehicle during a Minneapolis protest 11 days before he was shot and killed by Border Patrol officers, videos that emerged Wednesday showed.
The Jan. 13 scuffle was captured in a pair of videos that showed Pretti shouting an expletive at the federal officers and struggling with them. His winter coat comes off when he’s on the ground and he either breaks free or the officers let him go and he scurries away.
When he turns his back to the camera, what appears to be a handgun is visible in his waistband. At no point do the videos show Pretti reaching for the gun and it is unclear whether the federal agents saw it.
A person with knowledge of the incident confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the videos is Pretti and that he had told his family of the confrontation, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters sensitive to the family.
The new videos immediately rekindled the national debate about the death of Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, posted one of the videos on X and commented, “Just a peaceful legal observer.”
