Video shows Alex Pretti interacting with federal agents the week before his death
Jan 28, 2026
Video shows Alex Pretti interacting with federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 13, a little over a week before Border Patrol agents shot and killed him.
The video was recorded by The News Movement, which said it responded to a tip about agents blocking the street at the intersection of East 36th
Street and Park Avenue in Minneapolis shortly after 10 a.m. A family representative confirmed that Pretti is depicted in the video and that the family knew about the incident after it happened.
The video shows Pretti yelling at federal immigration agents and kicking the back of a vehicle used by agents, breaking a taillight. It’s not clear what happened before the interaction.
The video shows an officer getting out of the vehicle, grabbing Pretti and tackling him to the ground as witnesses scream “Stop! Stop!” Meanwhile, other uniformed officers deploy gas toward the crowd.
At least three officers try to keep Pretti down, but he manages to get away and runs toward people standing nearby, the video shows. When he turns, what appears to be a gun is visible, tucked into the back of his waistband. He does not ever appear to reach for it in the clip.
He and others continued to yell at agents, urging them to leave.
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By the end of the clip, billowing smoke had taken over the streets, cars were honking and people were yelling. The News Movement reported that shortly after the altercation, federal agents drove away.
Steve Schleicher, the attorney for the Pretti family, said in a statement: “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 at the hands of ICE on Jan 24.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Homeland Security Investigations is reviewing the video.
People in vests that appeared to say Police Homeland Security Investigations could be seen in the video.
Two federal officers fired their guns during Pretti’s fatal shooting Saturday, according to an initial review by DHS obtained by NBC News.
Both agents were placed on administrative leave, according to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
The preliminary report, from a Customs and Border Protection internal investigation led by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility, was sent to congressional committees Tuesday, including the House Homeland Security and Judiciary committees, according to three sources.
The DHS report said that during the encounter Jan. 24, an officer yelled “He’s got a gun!” multiple times and then “approximately five seconds later a BPA [Border Patrol agent] discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a CBPO [Customs and Border Protection officer] also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.”
It’s unclear from the report whether the bullets from both officers’ guns hit Pretti.
The report also did not make any mention of Pretti attacking officers or brandishing a gun, as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed in the aftermath of the shooting.
Multiple videos recorded by eyewitnesses that were verified and analyzed by NBC News show Pretti did not hold a weapon during the struggle as he was surrounded by agents. One video shows that a federal agent removed a gun from Pretti’s waist area just before he was shot.
The report said that after the shooting, a Border Patrol agent said he had possession of Pretti’s gun, which was then secured in his vehicle.
The report said its findings were based on CBP documents and body-camera from officers on the scene.
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