The Department of Homeland Security reportedly has body-worn camera videos of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti being fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis, an incident that immediately sparked protests in frigid temperatures in the Midwestern city.
Pretti was shot and killed on Saturday, Jan. 24, after intervening when a federal agent shoved a woman. The shooting came just weeks after ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Nicole Macklin Good and deepened the already tremendous tensions in the state surrounding the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.
Multiple bystander videos recorded on cell phones quickly made the Veteran Affairs nurse’s death a national flashpoint, and sworn testimony from witnesses provided detailed accounts of what happened.
But the body-worn cameras could offer the closest picture yet and show how Pretti went from a bystander recording a video of his own to being shot and killed in the city where he lived.
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News the agency had multiple body-worn camera videos of the shooting and that they were in the hands of Homeland Security investigators.
The agency did not respond to requests for comment on the body-worn camera footage. USA TODAY has filed Freedom of Information Act requests to make the videos public.
Other Trump administration officials were pressed on the potential release of the footage on Jan. 26, but it’s not clear if it will be released soon – or at all.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a news conference on Jan. 26 that President Donald Trump had not said whether he wanted the videos to be made public.
“That’s not something I’ve heard the president commit to, so I won’t do that from the podium,” Leavitt said.
After Good was killed in Minneapolis, Vice President JD Vance shared footage of the shooting on social media from the Minnesota-based outlet Alpha News. The outlet said the 47-second cell phone clip shows Ross’ perspective.
Ross approaches Good in her maroon Honda Pilot with its rear window down and a black lab dog in the back seat as she blocks the road, according to the video. As sirens blare and Ross records Good in the driver’s seat, she appears to say, “That’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you,” the video shows.
He appears to have an interaction with a woman dressed in flannel, who is also recording, moments before the chaotic scene turned violent.
Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg and Nick Penzenstadler
