Minneapolis, United States. Trump administration officials defended the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, saying officers fired in self-defense. Bystander videos verified by Reuters showed Pretti holding a phone, contradicting officials’ account.
Officials cite self-defense as video contradicts account
As residents visited a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles in frigid temperatures and snow to mark Saturday’s shooting, administration officials said Pretti assaulted officers and was shot in self-defense. Videos recorded by bystanders showed Pretti had a cellphone in his hands before agents grappled him to the ground and shot him at close range.
Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program, “The victims are Border Patrol agents.” The administration’s line was echoed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials.
Second fatal shooting of an American this month amid immigration surge
Pretti was the second American fatally shot by federal immigration officers this month in Minneapolis, where President Donald Trump has deployed thousands of armed and masked agents in a deportation effort described as having little precedent.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz again called on Trump to pull federal agents out of the state. Minnesota has asked a federal judge to restrain what it describes as unconstitutional excesses in the surge.
Protests grow as residents confront federal presence
Federal agents in recent weeks have been met by angry residents protesting in the city’s icy streets, with some blowing whistles. Thousands of people again filled the streets of Minneapolis on Sunday to protest against the surge in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, chanting and waving signs reading “ICE OUT!”
Reuters-verified video shows confrontation before shooting
Videos of Saturday’s killing verified by Reuters showed Pretti, 37, holding a phone rather than a gun as he tried to help other protesters who had been pushed to the ground by agents.
In the footage, Pretti can be seen filming as a federal agent pushes one woman away and shoves another to the ground. Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself as the agent pepper sprays him.
Several agents then take hold of Pretti, who struggles with them, and force him onto his hands and knees. As agents pin him down, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about a gun.
What do you think should happen when official accounts conflict with verified bystander video?
