Witnesses who saw the moment that agents fatally shot ICE protestor Alex Pretti have weighed in on whether the 37-year-old was brandishing a gun or not in the moments leading up to his death.
On Saturday (January 24), Pretti, who was an intensive care nurse at Minneapolis VA Health Care System, was killed by federal agents after intervening during a protest.
Footage is believed to show Pretti coming to the aid of a woman whom officers pushed over before he was violently pepper-sprayed.
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He was then tackled to the ground by multiple agents, and a few moments later, several shots rang out, killing him. Pretti’s death comes after the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent on January 7.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has since alleged that the officers fired in defense as Pretti had a gun.The 37-year-old was ‘a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry’, said Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara.
It’s thought that Pretti may have had his gun on him at the time of the ordeal, but he was not pointing it at law enforcement – something which witnesses have now backed up.
Two witnesses said they did not see Pretti brandish a weapon in a sworn testimony, The Guardian reports. Their names were redacted in the publicly available filings.
One of the witnesses’ harrowing statements read: « The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn’t see him touch any of them – he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up.
« I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times… I don’t know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him. » »The man did not approach the agents with a gun, » she went on to say.
The second witness, a physician, echoed similar sentiments and stated that they ‘did not see [Pretti] attack the agents or brandish a weapon of any kind’.
The physician also said that they tried to get to Pretti to render medical aid after he’d been shot, but initially, they wouldn’t let her through.
When she was eventually allowed through, she claimed that officers were not checking for Pretti’s pulse but ‘appeared to be counting his bullet wounds’ instead.
When she checked him for a pulse, she sadly found none.
If you or someone you know has been affected by gun violence, please find more information and support via Survivors Empowered on their website.
Donald Trump has spoken out on the shooting of Alex Pretti following calls for an investigation.
On Saturday (January 24), another American citizen was shot and killed in Minnesota by federal immigrant officers. The person has been identified as 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti.
His death has sparked rage across the political spectrum, and has been condemned by former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Many conversations have centered on whether the action was justified or not in addition to analysis of the video that showed the moments before and after Pretti was shot.
Donald Trump has now weighed in on the situation, also explaining when he expects agents will leave Minneapolis.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Trump did not express whether he felt the shooting was justified or not but did say: “We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination.”
He added: “I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it.
“But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
Trump went on to call Pretti’s gun, a Sig Sauer P320 9mm pistol, a ‘very dangerous gun, a dangerous and unpredictable gun. It’s a gun that goes off when people don’t know it’.
This is likely in reference to reports of the Sig Sauer P320 firing without the trigger being pulled. It has been at the center of several lawsuits, NPR reports.
Sig Sauer said that ‘verified incidents of unintended discharges are all attributed to improper handling, incompatible equipment (i.e. holsters), trigger access vulnerability, or a lapse in firearm safety, not to any defect in the P320’.
It added: « The P320 CANNOT, under any circumstances, discharge without a trigger pull. This is verified through extensive testing by SIG SAUER, the U.S. Military, elite law enforcement agencies, and independent laboratories. »
The videos of Pretti’s shooting show that he attempted to help a woman to her feet after she had been shoved into the snow by an agent.He was then pepper sprayed before being tackled to the ground. Footage then shows a struggle ensue before he is shot multiple times by the officers.
Without giving a definitive timeline, Trump also indicated that federal agents would eventually leave the city.
He said: “At some point, we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job. We’ll leave a different group of people there for the financial fraud.”
This is in relation to the ongoing investigations into alleged welfare fraud in the state.
On Truth Social, Trump has demanded cooperation from Democrat politicians going forward.
In a post he said: “The Trump Administration is standing by and waiting for ANY Democrat to do the right thing and work with us on these important matters of MAKING AMERICA SAFE like it is in all sections of our country where we are, together with Local Leadership, participating and involved.”
Celebrities have been speaking out after an anti-ICE protester was killed on Saturday (January 24).
Alex Pretti 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 similar circumstances.
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 Pretti holding a mobile phone, not a gun.
In a statement, Pretti’s family have said: « We are heartbroken but also very angry.
« Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman.
« 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. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper-sprayed.
« Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you. »
The events in Minneapolis this weekend have prompted some celebrity responses, too, with several famous faces discussing what happened.
Mandy Moore shared a series of statements and articles on social media, before writing: « We have eyeballs. We’ve seen the video. They executed someone else. I’m not sure how this ends. This is terrifying territory. »
Meanwhile, Ariana Grande posted a tweet from New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, which read: « As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today. ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE. »
Singer Olivia Rodrigo added on social media: « ICEs actions are unconscionable but we are not powerless. our actions matter. I stand with Minnesota. »
Chrissy Teigen also re-shared a number of posts, including one by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on X.
« Americans are being killed in the street by their government. Our Constitution is being shredded and our rights are dissolving. Resist, » she wrote.
« Senate Dems should block ICE funding this week. Activate the National Guard. We can and must stop this. »
Pretti was fatally shot in Minneapolis (ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
Pretti was fatally shot in Minneapolis (ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
Pretti had no criminal convictions, with his family noting he had never had any interactions with the police.
On Truth Social, President Donald Trump shared a statement about the incident. Posting an image of a handgun, he wrote: « 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! »
