Three new videos have shown Alex Pretti had a confrontation with federal agents almost two weeks before he was shot and killed.
On Wednesday (January 29), The News Movement shared video footage that appeared to show 37-year-old Pretti at a protest in Minneapolis on January 13.
It is not clear what happened before the camera footage begins but it does show Pretti shouting in the street and eventually kicking a tail light of an agent’s unmarked vehicle.
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Federal immigration officers then exited the vehicle, apprehend Pretti and tackled him to the ground.
After 30 seconds on the ground, Pretti then gets up and remains at the scene while the agents appear to vacate the area, driving away.At one point, it appears that the man in the footage has a gun holster on his hip and is seen wearing a similar outfit to what Pretti was wearing the day he was shot.
Speaking to the Guardian, a family representative of Pretti’s confirmed that it was him in the footage.
A witness at the incident provided another video of the same incident and shared it with the Minnesota Star Tribune. Max Shapiro, the witness who filmed the interaction, told the newspaper: “He got slammed to the ground pretty hard.”
This footage ends with Shapiro approaching Pretti and asking if he is ‘OK’, with Pretti responding, ‘I’m OK. Are we all OK? Are we all safe?’
The attorney representing Pretti’s family, Steve Schleicher, issued a statement condemning any possible argument that this incident justified his shooting 11 days later.
He said: “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. »
While the federal agents who apprehended and eventually shot Pretti on January 24 had their actions initially defended by the Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, there has now been an update on their fate.
A Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson has said ‘two officers involved are on administrative leave’. However, this is considered standard protocol after such a shooting.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who heads up ICE and Border Patrol, was asked about the protocol following the death of Renee Good 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.”
ICE in Minnesota: a timeline of events
Dec 2025: Trump sends thousands of ICE agents to Minneapolis
In late December 2025, with reports emerging around January 6 (the five-year anniversary of the Capitol Riots), President Donald Trump sent around 2,000 ICE agents into Minneapolis to crack down on immigration.
This was reportedly due to, more specifically, allegations of fraud aimed at Somalian residents.
Jan 7: ICE agent Jonathan Ross kills Renee Good
On January 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed mother-of-three Renee Good at the scene of an ICE raid in southern Minnesota. Good’s car was stopped sideways, in what is believed to have been an attempt to block ICE agents from passing.
As Good went to reverse her vehicle away from the agents, Ross shot her at least two times, once in the face. Good died at the scene.
Jan 7: Protests break out in Minneapolis
Following the killing of Renee Good, protests broke out in Minneapolis that same night. Protests are still ongoing at the time of writing (January 19), and tensions remain high in the twin cities.
Jan 12: Minnesota sues the Trump administration
On January 12, the state of Minnesota filed a motion in federal court to sue the Trump administration in an attempt to block the surge of ICE agents. Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison said immigration operations have caused ‘chaos and violence’ for millions of people and disrupted their lives.
Jan 13: ICE drags disabled woman from car
On January 13, on a street in Minnesota City, ICE agents were caught on camera dragging an unknown disabled woman from her car. This happened just two blocks from where Good was shot.
The woman shouted at the time: “I’ve been beat up by police before. I’m disabled, I’m trying to go to the doctor up there, that’s why I couldn’t move. I am an autistic disabled person, I’m trying to go to the doctor.”
The Independent reports that ‘tear gas, flash bang grenades and pepper balls were also fired towards the protesters during the stand-off’.
Jan 14: Venezuelan man shot by ICE
A Venezuelan man was shot in the leg by ICE officers on January 14 during an alleged traffic stop. It’s been reported that during the traffic stop, the officer was attacked by another individual in the car with a ‘snow shovel and broom handle’, which is allegedly why they opened fire on two individuals. The man who was shot has not yet been identified.
Jan 15: Trump threatens insurrection
Trump has not reacted well to the protests and took to Truth Social to threaten Minnesota with insurrection. On January 15, he said: “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT,.”
Jan 18: 1,500 US troops on standby for deployment
On January 18, officials confirmed that 1,500 soldiers are on standby for deployment to Minneapolis. The troops are currently in Alaska, and no official word has been given to send them in as of yet.
Minnesota officials have asked protesters to stay ‘peaceful’ and ‘orderly’. This comes after Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis told ICE to ‘get the f*ck out’.
Jan 24: ICU nurse Alex Pretti shot by US Border Patrol
ICU nurse for United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Alex Pretti, was shot and killed by Border Patrol Agents in Minneapolis in the midst of citywide protests against Trump’s immigration crackdown. He was a 37 year old US citizen.
A fundraiser set up for anti-ICE protestor, Alex Pretti, who was shot by a federal agent on Saturday (January 24), has now surpassed $1 million as one of the richest men makes a huge donation.
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was fatally shot by a federal immigration officer in the street in Minneapolis, which comes just weeks after mom-of-three Renee Good was killed in her car in the same city.
Following the incident, the Department of Homeland Security said that federal immigration agents fired shots in a move of self-defence, claiming Pretti had a handgun at the time. This contrasts with both witness accounts and video footage, which show him holding a cell phone, not a gun.
Multiple videos of the incident have been circulating online, with The Guardian claiming that after reviewing one piece of footage, Pretti – who was legally licensed to have a gun – was never seen holding a firearm in his hand.
37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot and killed on January 24 (GoFundMe)
37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot and killed on January 24 (GoFundMe)
In a separate video, Pretti is believed to have stepped in to defend a woman who was allegedly pushed to the ground by an officer. It is at this point that he is repeatedly sprayed with a chemical agent and tackled to the ground.
More witness videos show agents surrounding Pretti as one officer allegedly reaches down before stepping back with what is believed to be a gun. Seconds later, shots are fired.
A fundraiser that declares Pretti an ‘American Hero’ has now been set up to support Pretti’s loved ones.
With a target of $20,000, the page has now received over $1.5 million in donations, including $10,000 from billionaire Bill Ackman, which his reps confirmed to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday evening (January 25).
He also confirmed over on X in a response to a tweet asking for his donation, to which he replied: « Done. That said, I don’t agree with the GoFundMe that he is an American hero, but his loss is tragic for him and his family. »
Ackman had previously donated $10,000 to a GoFundMe for Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot Good.The billionaire wrote that he had also intended to support Good’s loved ones, but the fundraiser had already closed as ‘it had achieved its $1.5 million fundraising objective’.
He previously said: « I was simply continuing my longstanding commitment to assisting those accused of crimes of providing for their defense. »
Following mounting backlash over Pretti’s death, President Donald Trump recently took to Truth Social, where he said he’d had a ‘very good call’ with the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, adding that they are on the ‘same wavelength’ on the situation.
In a statement, Walz’s office explained: “The president agreed that he would talk to his Department of Homeland Security about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case.
“The president also agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals.”
The family of an anti-ICE protestor have spoken out after he was fatally shot at the weekend.
ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, was killed in the middle of the street on Saturday (24 January) in Minneapolis, just weeks after the death of Renee Good, who was shot in her car by an ICE agent.
The Department of Homeland Security has said that federal immigration agents fired shots in a move of self defence, claiming Pretti had a handgun at the time.
Witnesses, family members, and even footage of the incident, have challenged this account, however, claiming he did not have a gun in his hand, but his phone instead.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the BBC: « 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.
« Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene. »Now, Pretti’s family have spoken out, describing him as an outdoorsman who ‘cared deeply’ about other people.
“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,” said Pretti’s father, Michael Pretti.
“He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”
Michael added: “We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically.
“And he said he knows that. He knew that.”
Protestors have been gathering since Pretti’s death (Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Protestors have been gathering since Pretti’s death (Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Pretti had no criminal convictions, with his family noting he had never had any interactions with the police.
However, Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino has since claimed that Pretti was trying to ‘massacre law enforcement’.
But Pretti’s family have urged others to ‘help get the truth out about our son’.
They said: « The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. »
The family claim that Pretti’s hands were visible and he had been trying to protect a woman standing nearby.On Truth Social, President Donald Trump shared a photo of a handgun, writing: « This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go – What is that all about?
« Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off?
« It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do! »
