Effort to manipulate killing of Alex Pretti collapsed after footage torpedoed ‘domestic terrorist’ claim – could this be a turning point?
“O
ur press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts.” These were the words of the senior White House aide Kellyanne Conway on NBC television’s Meet the Press in January 2017. “Alternative facts” instantly set a template for the era of Donald Trump.
So when Alex Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, was shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis last Saturday, White House officials immediately moved to brand him a “would-be assassin” and “domestic terrorist” who had been brandishing a gun. This time, however, the tried and trusted playbook did not work.
In the ensuing hours, multiple witness videos emerged showing that Pretti held only a phone in his hand when border patrol agents pushed him to the ground. They also made clear that an agent found Pretti’s gun near his waist and removed it seconds before another agent shot a restrained Pretti in the back.
