Video footage of the moment immigration agents shot dead a 37-year-old nurse in Minneapolis on Saturday appears to contradict Trump administration claims that the man was a violent aggressor who sought to “massacre” federal law enforcement officials.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the shooting said Alex Pretti had “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun” and “violently resisted” when they attempted to disarm him.
Administration officials did not say whether Pretti had the gun in his hands at the time.
Video shared widely by US media, which AFP has not verified, however, shows Pretti with a phone in his hands, filming agents in a snow-lined street and directing traffic.
After an agent shoves a woman protester to the ground on the sidewalk, Pretti steps in between them and is sprayed in the face by a chemical irritant.
The agent then pulls Pretti to the ground and several officers struggle to detain him on the icy roadway.
Seconds later, as an officer in grey appears to pull something from Pretti’s waist while Pretti is bent forward on his knees with multiple officers on top of him, agents open fire.
They shoot his motionless body several times from a distance after initially dispersing. At least 10 gunshots can be heard in the footage.
In one clip, a man can be heard saying, “Where’s the gun?” as Pretti is motionless on the ground.
DHS, after the shooting, posted on X a photo of the handgun purportedly found on Pretti.
The department said it looked “like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
But Pretti’s parents in a subsequent statement denounced what they called “sickening lies” from the Trump administration.
“Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,” they said.
“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.”
