Pretti’s parents have retained the lawyer who helped prosecute the George Floyd murder case.
Two federal agents who were involved in Saturday’s fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis have been placed on administrative leave, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson.
The spokesperson said in an email to CBC News said the move is standard protocol, and that they have been on leave since Saturday when the fatal shooting occurred.
Video taken from multiple angles shows immigration agents fired multiple shots at Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a hospital for veterans. His death was the second fatal encounter between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and U.S. citizens in Minnesota this month, sparked a national uproar.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said it is reviewing the shooting.
January 26|Duration13:01U.S. government officials say ICE agents fatally shot Alex Pretti at a protest in Minneapolis because he had a gun on his person and, according to U.S. President Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser Stephen Miller, was a ‘would-be assassin.’ Andrew Chang breaks down several video angles of the shooting, moment by moment, to understand how accurate the government’s initial account is. Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
Parents retain lawyer connected to George Floyd case
Pretti’s parents have retained a former federal prosecutor who helped Minnesota’s attorney general get a murder conviction for the police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s neck (new window).
Steve Schleicher, a partner at the Minneapolis firm Maslon, is an experienced litigator who served as a special prosecutor for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in the 2021 trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Schleicher is representing Michael and Susan Pretti pro bono, according to a family spokesperson.
Pretti’s death followed the Jan. 7 death of Minneapolis resident Renee Good, a mother of three shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Good’s family has hired the Chicago-based firm Romanucci & Blandin, which previously represented Floyd’s family.
Trump officials initially portrayed Pretti as aggressor
Pretti, 37, was carrying a handgun for which he had a legal permit, and videos of the killing appear to show that one officer removed his weapon before two others opened fire.
An initial U.S. government review of the Pretti shooting made no mention of him brandishing a firearm, despite initial statements by Trump administration officials highlighting the weapon.
‘Poorly trained agents’ murdered Alex Pretti: retired FBI agent
Retired FBI agent Daniel Brunner says that the claims made by the federal officials directly contradict eyewitness videos of a fatal shooting by immigration law enforcement officers in Minneapolis.
A preliminary review by U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Pretti was shot by two federal officers, a Border Patrol agent and a customs officer, after he refused to move out of the street following an order from a customs officer.
In the hours after Pretti was killed on Saturday, top Trump administration officials portrayed the ICU nurse as an aggressor, assertions that were quickly contradicted by video from the scene.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said he approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun,
but did not mention that the weapon was holstered.
White House aide Stephen Miller — the driver of Trump’s immigration agenda — called Pretti a domestic terrorist
and would-be assassin
without presenting evidence to support the claims.
The CBP review, conducted by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility and shared with lawmakers on Tuesday, is standard protocol and shared with members of the U.S. Congress to promote transparency, CBP spokesperson Hilton Beckham said.
Beckham said the notifications provide an initial outline of an event that took place and do not convey any definitive conclusion or investigative findings.
CBC News with files from Reuters and The Associated Press
