Jacob Frey says Alex Pretti's prior clash with ICE doesn't justify his killing 11 days later

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is pushing back against any suggestion that Alex Pretti’s earlier confrontation with federal law enforcement somehow justified his killing 11 days later.

After viewing newly surfaced video of a physical encounter between Pretti and federal agents, Frey said the footage changes nothing about how the fatal shooting involving Border Patrol agents should be judged.

“Are we actually making the argument that Alex Pretti should be killed for something that happened, like 11 days prior to the shooting itself?” Frey said during a CNN town hall on Wednesday, January 28. “I think we should be talking about the circumstances that actually led to the killing and what took place and those circumstances.”

Video shows Alex Pretti’s kicking taillight of law enforcement vehicle days before shooting

The video shows Pretti kicking the taillight of a law enforcement vehicle before being tackled to the ground. The clip, posted by The News Movement, also shows a handgun tucked into Pretti’s waistband. It remains unclear whether the agents noticed the gun at the time; they do not appear to have attempted to disarm him.

The newly surfaced footage was verified by the BBC and captures a heated January 13 protest in Minneapolis. 

The video shows the ICU nurse yelling at federal immigration officers as they drove away in a black SUV before kicking the back of the vehicle, smashing its taillights. Agents then jump out of the SUV and tackle him to the ground, according to footage from The News Movement. During the clash, Pretti appears armed, spitting at officers amid the chaos.

Homeland Security Investigations is now “reviewing” the footage, the Department of Homeland Security told the New York Post.

A spokesperson for Pretti’s family and the family’s attorney have confirmed that the man seen in the video is Pretti, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

Pretti was apparently known to federal authorities before his death. CNN reported on Tuesday that he suffered a broken rib during the confrontation with agents 11 days before he was killed.

Federal immigration officers had also documented details about Pretti and other anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis in recent weeks, according to the outlet.

Family, Mayor Jacob Frey reject link between earlier incident and fatak shooting

Pretti’s family and city leaders have rejected any attempt to tie the earlier encounter to his death.

“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,” family attorney Steve Schleicher said in a statement to the Post. “Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on January 24.”

On the night of the shooting, Pretti was carrying a handgun (which he was licensed to carry) when he confronted Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Saturday. Federal officers pulled the loaded Sig Sauer pistol from his waistband before firing at least 10 shots while he was pinned to the ground.

DHS investigators believe an errant round from Pretti’s own pistol may have prompted agents to open fire.

Frey said the killing went far beyond just a technical breach of rules.

“Well, it’s not just protocol that was violated,” the mayor said during the CNN town hall. "It’s a common sense of humanity. You have a person that was trying to help someone else, that was tackled to the ground. He was not a threat to anyone else and fired upon by multiple agents."