Three newly released videos have captured a confrontation involving Alex Pretti and federal agents nearly two weeks before he was fatally shot.
On January 29, The News Movement released footage of 37-year-old Pretti at a Minneapolis protest on January 13.
The footage begins with Pretti shouting in the street, escalating to him kicking a light on an agent’s unmarked vehicle, although the events leading up to this are not shown.
Subsequently, federal immigration officers exit the vehicle, confront Pretti, and bring him to the ground.
After approximately 30 seconds, Pretti stands up and stays at the scene as the agents retreat, driving away from the location.
The individual in the video appears to have a gun holster on his hip and wears attire similar to what Pretti was wearing on the day he was shot.
A family representative confirmed to the Guardian that the man in the video is indeed Pretti.
A witness provided another video of this incident to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Max Shapiro, who filmed the encounter, described it to the newspaper: “He got slammed to the ground pretty hard.”
The footage concludes with Shapiro approaching Pretti and inquiring about his well-being, to which Pretti responds, “I’m OK. Are we all OK? Are we all safe?”
Steve Schleicher, the attorney for Pretti’s family, released a statement criticizing any claims that could justify his shooting based on this prior incident.
He stated: “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.”
Initially, the Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino defended the actions of the agents involved in the January 24 shooting of Pretti. However, there has been an update regarding these agents.
A spokesperson from Customs and Border Patrol announced that ‘two officers involved are on administrative leave’, which is considered routine following such incidents.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, responsible for ICE and Border Patrol, was questioned about the procedures following Renee Good’s death earlier this month.
“We are following the exact same investigative and review process that we always have under ICE and under the Department of Homeland Security and within the administration.”