DHS reviewing body-cam videos from immigration agents involved in shooting of Alex Pretti
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: The Department of Homeland Security says it has body‑worn camera video of the incident involving Alex Jeffrey Pretti, and that investigators are reviewing the footage from federal agents involved in the incident.
Pretti, a 37‑year‑old intensive care unit nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, was fatally shot by federal authorities on Saturday, January 24, during an ICE and Border Patrol immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
DHS statement on body‑worn camera footage and the shooting of Alex Pretti
According to reports, Homeland Security investigators have obtained body‑worn camera video recorded by multiple agents who were present during the fatal shooting of Pretti. A DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, told NBC that the footage will be reviewed by investigators.
The agents involved in the encounter were from the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, a specialized force within Customs and Border Protection that is known to have body cameras, and investigators are looking at video from multiple angles captured by these cameras.
DHS has maintained its account that an agent shot Pretti in self‑defense after he “violently resisted” attempts to disarm him during what the agency described as a law enforcement action, and that Pretti approached officers while armed.
This government narrative, remains part of the official explanation. Eyewitness videos taken by bystanders also circulated on social media over the weekend following the shooting. Those videos, which showed federal agents restraining Pretti before he was shot, have drawn public attention and raised questions about the sequence of events leading to the fatal shot.
The shooting came just weeks after ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Nicole Good and deepened the already tremendous tensions in the state surrounding the Trump administration's immigration enforcement.
Investigation into Alex Pretti shooting raises concerns
The Department of Homeland Security’s investigative branch, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), is taking the lead on the federal inquiry into the shooting, with the FBI providing support, including by handling physical evidence, officials said.
“We’re in possession of the firearm,” FBI Director Kash Patel said about Pretti’s gun, adding that the FBI planned to analyze it at their own laboratory. Hearing a case on evidence preservation in Alex Pretti’s killing, a federal judge is considering whether to extend an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” connected to the case.
At the end of hearing, where state and federal officials presented opposing views, the judge said, “We will be getting a decision forthwith.” A Justice Department lawyer argued that the order should be dissolved on the grounds that the government is already preserving evidence.
A lawyer for the Minnesota attorney general pointed to several “serious irregularities” in how federal authorities preserved evidence in the hours after the shooting, including denying local police access to the scene and releasing statements that blamed Pretti and called him a "domestic t*rrorist."
Peter Farrell, the lawyer for the Minnesota attorney general, also questioned why Trump officials posted on social media a photo of a gun that federal agents said belonged to Pretti. He emphasized the contrast with state investigative standards by saying, “The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension would never treat a gun like that."
