A second US citizen 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti was killed during a confrontation with ICE officials in Minneapolis on Saturday. Footage from the moment Pretti was killed shows him holding a mobile phone as officers move in, followed by a chaotic struggle on the ground. An agent is seen pushing people into the street and spraying Pretti with pepper spray when he steps forward.Also read: Parents of victims call ICE, Trump admin’s account of events ‘sickening lies’Seconds later, several agents seize him and force him down. As he is restrained on his knees, one agent appears to pull a handgun from near Pretti’s hip while another draws his own weapon. Almost immediately, shots ring out at close range. Even after Pretti collapses, two agents continue firing. At least ten shots are heard within roughly five seconds, according to the videos.
The incident came just weeks after Minnesota resident Renée Good was shot dead by a federal immigration agent on January 7 , an earlier killing that sparked daily protests in the city.
What the footage shows
One video, filmed from inside a coffee and doughnut shop, shows agents surrounding and tackling a man later identified as 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti. An officer appears to strike him several times as they force him to the ground. Gunshots are then heard, and the man collapses.A second clip from nearby captures agents but not Pretti himself. Around ten shots can be heard in quick succession as officers move back into the street.Analyses of the footage indicate Pretti was holding a mobile phone before he was taken down, as per the NYT. At one point, he appears to be directing traffic and filming as protesters interact with officers. An agent is seen shoving demonstrators and using pepper spray. Pretti’s hands are visible — one holding a phone, the other raised toward his face.Several agents then pull him from behind and wrestle him to his knees. As officers push down on his back and legs, shouts of “he’s got a gun” are heard roughly eight seconds after he is pinned. One officer reaches into the group and appears to retrieve a firearm matching the type later shown in a photo released by the Department of Homeland Security.Seconds later, an agent fires at close range into Pretti’s back. Further shots follow as he lies motionless. In total, at least ten shots appear to be fired within about five seconds.Amid the gunfire and confusion, a voice from the crowd cuts through the chaos, capturing the shock of those watching it unfold. As agents surround the man and shots erupt in rapid succession, a bystander can be heard shouting, “What did you just do?”.
Official response and family reaction
In a statement, DHS said: “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted…Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.”Officials have not said whether Pretti, who police believe was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry, ever brandished the weapon. In the videos reviewed, he is not seen visibly holding a gun before being tackled.Pretti’s family describe him as an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital who cared deeply about people and the environment. His father, Michael Pretti, said: “He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset.”His mother, Susan Pretti, said: “He was an outdoorsman… He loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”
