New videos released this week show Alex Pretti scuffling with federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 13—11 days before he was shot and killed by Border Patrol officers, according to an Associated Press report. The footage immediately reignited a national debate over how the confrontation unfolded and what role officers’ actions and Pretti’s movements played in the fatal shooting on Jan. 24.
Homeland Security Investigations said it is reviewing the new videos and the Jan. 13 incident, according to an agency spokesperson. It was not immediately known, AP reported, whether any officers involved in the Jan. 13 encounter were also among the officers who killed Pretti on Jan. 24.
The AP reported that the Jan. 13 scuffle was captured in two videos. In the recordings, Pretti is shown shouting and struggling with federal officers after a tail light on their vehicle is kicked out during a protest, the report said. The videos show a winter coat coming off when Pretti is on the ground, and he either breaks free or officers let him go, AP said, after which he runs away.
The AP also reported that when Pretti turns his back to the camera, what appears to be a handgun is visible in his waistband. At no point in the AP account did the videos show Pretti reaching for the gun, and it was unclear whether the federal agents saw it.
In a statement carried by AP, Steve Schleicher, a Minneapolis-based attorney representing Pretti’s parents, argued that the earlier altercation did not justify the fatal shooting. Schleicher said in a written statement that, “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street — despite posing no threat to anyone — he was violently assaulted by a group of (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents,” and that “Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24.”
The AP reported that a person with knowledge of the incident told the outlet on condition of anonymity that the man in the videos is Pretti and that he had told his family about the confrontation. The anonymous source also spoke to discuss matters sensitive to the family, AP said.
On social media, Donald Trump Jr. posted one of the videos on X and commented, “Just a peaceful legal observer,” AP reported, as the images spread and drew scrutiny from supporters and critics alike.
The AP said one video came from the Minnesota Star Tribune and was later obtained by AP; it was taken by Max Shapiro, a witness who filmed the interaction. The second video, AP said, was recorded by a crew for The News Movement, an online media outlet.
Shapiro, an attorney in Minneapolis, told AP in an interview that he saw—via a Signal chat—that immigration enforcement was in the area. He said he drove to the scene, parked about half a block from the officers, and got out as observers, in his account, were “pretty distraught and screaming,” with officer directives drowned out by whistles and shouts.
In the News Movement video described by AP, Pretti is shown wearing glasses and a dark baseball cap and winter coat while yelling at federal vehicles. AP reported that, at one point, Pretti appeared to spit and yell “trash” toward the driver’s side of a dark Ford Expedition with flashing red and blue lights. As the vehicle slowly pulled away, AP said Pretti kicked at the taillight and a second kick shattered the red plastic, leaving the taillight dangling.
According to AP, both videos show the rear door of the SUV swinging open as an immigration officer wearing a gas mask and helmet steps out and walks toward Pretti. AP said the officer grabbed Pretti’s shirt at the chest, pulled him back toward the vehicle as Pretti’s arms flailed, and then forced him down onto his knees, with other masked officers surrounding them while officers tried to subdue Pretti.
After Pretti stumbles away, Shapiro told AP he walked over and hugged Pretti, asking if he was OK. The AP report said Pretti affirmed that he was and then turned to others involved in the melee, asking, “Are we all OK? Are we all safe?”