Previously Unseen Footage Reveals Violent Confrontation Between Minneapolis Nurse and Federal Agents
Three separate videos have emerged showing a physical altercation between Alex Pretti and federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, occurring just 11 days before the ICU nurse was fatally shot by federal agents. The footage, published on Wednesday by various sources including The News Movement and the Minnesota Star Tribune, provides new context to the events leading up to Pretti's death during intense community protests against federal immigration enforcement operations.
Detailed Video Evidence Shows Tackling Incident
Approximately two minutes of video evidence shows an incident on 13 January in Minneapolis where officers appeared to grab Pretti and bring him to the ground. The footage captures Pretti yelling at agents in an unmarked vehicle and kicking the tail light of their car as they attempted to move away. Shortly after, a heavily armed agent in tactical gear is seen exiting the vehicle and appears to tackle Pretti to the ground while other officers crowded around the scene.
Family attorney Steve Schleicher stated in an official release: "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." A family representative confirmed to media outlets that the individual in the footage was indeed Alex Pretti.
Multiple Perspectives of the Same Incident
The Minnesota Star Tribune published separate bystander video showing officers tackling Pretti, with witness Max Shapiro who filmed the interaction telling the newspaper: "He got slammed to the ground pretty hard." The footage concludes with Shapiro approaching Pretti and asking if he was okay, to which Pretti responded: "I'm OK. Are we all OK? Are we all safe?"
A third video of the incident, originally posted on YouTube the day it occurred, captures the atmosphere of community anger surrounding immigration enforcement operations, with cars honking and people blowing whistles to alert neighbors about the presence of federal agents. All videos show that during the incident, agents fired teargas and pepper balls into the crowd while continuing to restrain Pretti on the ground.
Broader Context of Community Protests
The confrontation occurred just four blocks away from where Renee Good had been killed by an ICE officer the previous week, adding to community tensions. Sahan Journal, a local outlet covering immigrant communities, reported that a crowd of more than 100 people had gathered to observe and protest following reports of ICE's presence in the neighborhood that day.
The outlet documented additional incidents during the protests, including one woman being forcibly removed from her vehicle after officers smashed her window. State Representative Aisha Gomez, who was present at the scene, told reporters that agents had tackled another man and pushed his head into the ground before carrying him away, adding that officers had gotten physical with her as well.
Official Responses and Contradictory Claims
When questioned about the footage at a CNN town hall, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey responded that he did not consider it relevant to Pretti's fatal killing 11 days later, stating: "I think we should be talking about the circumstances that actually led to the killing and what took place in those circumstances."
This new evidence contradicts earlier claims from Trump administration officials who initially stated Pretti was "brandishing" a gun on the day he was killed and intended to "massacre" officers – assertions directly contradicted by video evidence showing him holding a phone rather than a firearm. The Pretti family issued a statement shortly after his death declaring: "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... Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man."
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed in an email on Wednesday night that they were reviewing the newly released footage. The videos show that after Pretti's coat was pulled off by officers, what appears to be a gun is visible in his waistband – though Pretti, who reportedly had a permit to carry a concealed handgun, never touched the weapon during or after the altercation.
