As federal officers piled on top of Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street on Saturday morning, at least five bystanders used their phones to record the encounter.
Those videos have been reviewed and verified by ABC News, and do not appear to support assertions by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun” and “attacked” officers carrying out immigration duties.
At no point in the videos does it appear that Pretti draws his weapon, which the Minneapolis Police said he was legally authorized to carry. The videos appear to show that Pretti was pinned on the street by multiple federal agents — one of whom was apparently hitting him — when one of the officers can be seen leaving the scrum with what appears to be a gun that looks like the one Pretti was said to be carrying.
What we know about Alex Pretti, VA nurse killed by federal agent in Minneapolis
The interaction began at least three minutes before the first shot was fired, as Pretti was holding his phone, appearing to be recording video of federal agents carrying out an arrest nearby, according to eyewitness videos.
The encounter escalated after one of the federal officers shouted at a nearby civilian, pushing the person towards Pretti. Pretti appeared to intervene when the officer shoved another civilian, followed by the officer shooting pepper spray at Pretti and pulling him into the street.
As Pretti is being held down on the street by officers, one of the agents is seen in multiple verified videos emerging from the group of officers on top of Pretti with a handgun that appears to match the weapon federal officials say Pretti was carrying. Before the first shot is fired, another agent can be seen drawing his own handgun, while another repeatedly hits Pretti.
More than a minute after Pretti was shot, the officer who appeared to emerge with Pretti’s weapon later returned to the scene and told other officers, “I got the gun. I got the gun.”
‘It is wrong’: Witness in court docs disputes DHS account of Minneapolis shooting
In total, 10 shots were fired in less than five seconds, according to a forensic audio analysis of the videos conducted for ABC News. Pretti was declared dead on the scene.
“What the videos depict is that this guy did not walk up to anybody from CBP in a threatening manner,” said former acting DHS undersecretary for intelligence John Cohen, a police trainer and ABC News contributor. “For [DHS] to construe that he arrived at that location with the intent to shoot those border patrol officers, there’s nothing in the video evidence that we’ve seen thus far that would support that.”
This is a timeline based on five different verified videos of the incident.
8:58:11 a.m. — Three minutes and two seconds before the first shot is fired, Alex Pretti holds a phone before a federal officer on Nicollet Ave. in Minnesota, in what appears to be an apparent attempt to record a nearby detention by immigration authorities.
8:58:22 a.m. — A second federal officer carrying a canister of pepper spray approaches Pretti, who continues to hold up his phone.
8:58:29 a.m. — One federal officer appears to push Pretti towards the sidewalk.
8:59:08 a.m. — Another eyewitness begins recording the incident, showing Pretti continuing to lift his phone towards officers, as they appear to detain someone in the street.
8:59:24 a.m. — Pretti is seen lifting a phone towards the officers as they move a detainee into a nearby vehicle.
9:00:12 a.m. — Pretti continues to lift his phone towards nearby federal officers as they interact with two unidentified individuals, one with an orange backpack and another in a parka.
9:00:21 a.m. — The two individuals, who were later pepper-sprayed alongside Pretti, speak with a federal agent. Several people honk and whistle. “Watch out for that car,” the officer says as a car passes the group.
9:00:41 a.m. — Three different cameras capture the next interaction. The officer shouts at one of the civilians, “Do not push them into traffic,” and pushes them towards Pretti. Pretti continues to raise his phone towards the officers.
9:00:44 a.m. — The individual who was pushed appears to hold onto Pretti as the federal officer approaches them.
9:00:45 a.m. — The federal officer appears to push Pretti.
9:00:47 a.m. — The officer is seen pushing the individual with the orange backpack.
9:00:50 a.m. — The officer uses pepper spray on Pretti, and Pretti appears to raise his hand towards the officer to get between the officer and the person with the backpack, but the officer immediately pepper-sprays him. According to ABC News contributor and former acting DHS undersecretary Cohen, it appears Pretti used his hand in an attempt to signal that he was not a threat to officers.
9:00:53 a.m. — The officer pepper-sprays the other two civilians again.
9:00:54 a.m. — After being sprayed, Pretti appears to fall into the person with the backpack and possibly grab that person to stabilize himself.
9:00:56 a.m. — The federal officer appears to pull Pretti into the street, appearing to tug him by the hood of his coat.
9:01:02 a.m. — Three officers hold down Pretti, while another group of officers surrounds Pretti. According to ABC News contributor and former acting DHS undersecretary Cohen, the officers do not appear to be following the tactical steps to control and arrest Pretti. “This just seemed to be a free-for-all, and they didn’t seem to have any understanding from a tactical perspective on how to gain control of that individual,” he said.
9:01:05 a.m. — A nearby woman can be heard screaming, “That is police brutality. They are hitting an observer. They’re kicking them in the face.” At one point, at least five officers are on top of Pretti, pinning him down.
9:04:11 a.m. — One of the agents appears to hit Pretti, swinging his hand to repeatedly punch Pretti.
9:01:12 a.m. — One of the officers appears to draw a handgun.
9:01:13 a.m. — One of the federal officers appears to remove a gun from Pretti’s waist that seems to match the handgun federal officials said he was carrying.
9:01:14 a.m. — Another video shows the officer in the grey jacket emerging from the scrum, holding a firearm that appears to match Pretti’s weapon. The video of the officer entering the scrum did not show the agent carrying a weapon. Three cameras capture the moment.
9:01:14 a.m. –– First shot is fired. At least one officer immediately steps away from Pretti.
9:01:16 a.m. — One second after the first shot, three additional shots are fired. Pretti appears to go limp and fall to the ground.
9:01:19 a.m. — Within three seconds, six more shots are fired. The six agents have stepped back from Pretti’s body.
9:01:45 a.m. — Twenty-nine seconds after the first shot, an officer approaches Pretti. According to a sworn affidavit from a doctor who says they treated Pretti at the scene, Pretti had at least three bullet wounds in his back, an additional wound on his upper chest, and another possible wound on his neck.
09:02:28 a.m. — Seventy-four seconds after the first shot is fired, the officer in a grey jacket is heard saying, “I got the gun. I got the gun,” and walks towards the officers surrounding Pretti.
An analysis conducted by Robert Maher, a professor at Montana State University specializing in audio forensics, concluded that 10 shots were fired in less than 5 seconds.
The killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, is the city’s second fatal shooting by a federal officer this month — and it has set off another wave of outrage.
What we know
- A Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, in Minneapolis yesterday. The city’s second fatal shooting by a federal officer this month set off another wave of outrage from residents and local officials.
- Federal officials have said the agent fired the shots “fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers.”
- At least four different videos of the encounter — recorded by eyewitnesses and verified and analyzed by NBC News — run counter to some of the administration’s description of events.
- In dueling news conferences, Gov. Tim Walz and Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino offered starkly different narratives, with Walz blaming “untrained” federal agents for the violence and Bovino blaming protesters and local officials for “vilifying” agents and causing a “preventable tragedy.”
VA secretary appears to blame local officials for Pretti’s death
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins appeared in a post on X to focus blame for Pretti’s death on “state and local officials’ refusal to cooperate with the federal government to enforce the law and deport dangerous illegal criminals.”
He also confirmed Pretti was a nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and offered condolences to his family.
“As President Trump has said, nobody wants to see chaos and death in American cities, and we send our condolences to the Pretti family,” Collins wrote.
Eyewitness videos show at least one federal agent shooting and killing Pretti.
‘It is time for a hard reset’: Attorney representing Renee Good’s family calls on ICE to leave Minneapolis
The law firm representing Renee Good’s family called for ICE personnel to leave Minneapolis, calling their presence “an invasion of this beautiful American city.”
In the statement, attorney Antonio Romanucci referred to the killing of Pretti, calling him “yet another U.S. citizen losing their life while taking art in the time-honored and Constitutionally protected activity of being present to observe and peacefully advocate for their beliefs.”
“We urge all Americans to trust their own eyes as they interpret the horrific video, and to call for an absolute end to ICE activity in Minneapolis,” wrote Romanucci, a founding partner at Romanucci & Blandin.
“It has clearly gone too far and strayed far beyond its stated mission of removing criminal non-citizens from the country. It is time for a hard reset. ICE agents can leave Minneapolis,” he said.
Trump blames Democrats and ‘sanctuary’ cities for unrest in Minneapolis
In a Truth Social post, Trump blamed Democratic local leaders for the unrest in Minneapolis, claiming his administration is undertaking a “Deportation effort,” which he said is obstructed in “Democrat run Sanctuary Cities and States.”
“Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos,” Trump wrote.
In a related post continuing his thought, Trump called on Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and “EVERY Democrat Governor and Mayor in the United States to formally cooperate with the Trump administration to enforce our Nation’s laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence.”
He further called on Congress to pass legislation ending so-called sanctuary cities, which he called “the root cause of all of these problems.”
NBA Players Association responds to fatal shooting of Pretti, saying it ‘can no longer remain silent’
The NBA Players Association said that “NBA players can no longer remain silent” following the fatal shooting of Pretti.
“Now more than ever, we must defend the right to freedom of speech and stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota protesting and risking their lives to demand justice,” the association said in a statement.
The union of NBA players said its members extend condolences to the families of Pretti and Renee Good and that, like the U.S., it is a “community enriched by its global citizens” that refuses to “let the flames of division threaten the civil liberties that are meant to protect us all.”
Sports franchises in the state — the Vikings, the Wild, the Timberwolves, the Lynx and Minnesota United FC — have all signed an open letter calling for officials to work on an “immediate deescalation of tension.”
The NBA also postponed a game scheduled for yesterday between the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis “to prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community.”
‘The Traitors’ alum Carolyn Wiger among mourners at Pretti’s memorial
Reporting from Minneapolis
Carolyn Wiger, a former star of reality game show “The Traitors” who lives in Minnesota, was among the mourners at the site of Pretti’s killing.
She and a friend held a sign that said “STOP Justifying This.”
“This is terrifying,” Wiger said of Pretti’s killing. “How are we doing this to other humans? It just keeps getting worse and worse, and it feels helpless.”
Former colleague says Pretti was driven by a strong sense of duty
Alex Pretti was the type of person who got along with everyone and a team player who chose to work with veterans because he thought they were a particularly vulnerable population of patients, his former colleague Dr. Aasma Shaukat told NBC News.
Shaukat worked with Pretti at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, where he was initially hired in 2014 as a research assistant, she said. Pretti spent six years being trained on the job, enrolling patients and conducting interviews, she said.
“I think he was always looking for opportunities to help,” Shaukat said. “He would always hold the elevator for someone getting in or help someone who looked lost in the hospital find their way. He had a strong sense of duty.”
Shaukat wrote Pretti a letter of support when he expressed interest in nursing, and he returned to the VA hospital once he finished nursing school. They spoke over the summer, she recalled, saying Pretti seemed to be in a good place.
Shaukat said she was completely shocked to learn that Pretti was fatally shot yesterday. She said she knew him to be a young and passionate person, and she recalled that he participated in protests after a police officer killed George Floyd in 2020.
“He did have a strong sense of civic responsibility, and he was willing to stand up for things that he thought were wrong,” Shaukat said, describing Pretti as a “good citizen.”
