Alex Pretti spits at ICE agents and smashes federal SUV's tail light in shocking footage taken 11 days before he was shot dead
By Emma Richter and Stephen M. Lepore
Daily Mail
Jan 28, 2026
Alex Pretti was filmed spitting at a federal SUV, smashing its tail light and fighting with cops 11 days before the fatal shooting that shocked America.
Lawyers for Pretti's family confirmed to The Star Tribune that the agitator in the footage on January 11 is, in fact, him.
Pretti's attendance was confirmed with the help of BBC facial recognition software and published in a joint effort between the British public broadcaster and The News Movement.
Reporter Dan Ming was on the scene to cover the ongoing protests in Minneapolis and can be seen at the beginning of the clip. He confirmed his attendance in an email sent to the Daily Mail.
'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,' said attorney Steve Schleicher on behalf of the family.
'Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex's killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24,' added Schleicher, an ex-federal prosecutor who helped secure a conviction for Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd case.
The Department of Homeland Security said that they are investigating the footage.
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was killed on January 24 after being shot ten times by Department of Homeland Security officers.
New footage showed the moment an anti-ICE protestor, confirmed to be Alex Pretti, was shouting at federal officers on January 13 in Minneapolis. The video was filmed by The News Movement, who were at the scene
Pretti was seen spitting on a federal vehicle before kicking its taillight and causing it to fall off - triggering officers to tackle him to the ground
The gun he was lawfully carrying was removed from his holster, before an unnamed agent shot him dead in broad daylight.
In the new video, Pretti is seen wearing an identical brown outfit to the one the nurse wore on the day of his death.
The clip begins with him angrily spitting at the window of the Ford Expedition SUV filled with federal officers conducting raids to arrest illegal migrants, with Pretti heard screaming 'F*****g trash' at officers.
As the Ford begins to pull away, the furious agitator angrily kicks its tail light, shattering it.
An officer then gets out of the car and fights with Pretti, pinning him to the ground as bystanders jeer and scream.
The protester's hat comes off and displays the same male pattern baldness seen atop Pretti's head during his final moments on Saturday.
Surrounding officers then fired tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd while agents released Pretti from their grip and set him free.
Pretti, who appeared to have a gun in his waistband as he did the day of the shooting, then picked up his belongings that came off in the scuffle and walked away.
The recent footage showed federal officials tackling Pretti in a similar outfit to the one he was wearing on the day he died
The officers he had been fighting with what appeared to be ICE or Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents.
On Tuesday, it was revealed Pretti had an altercation with federal officers that saw him break a rib before his killing.
It could not be immediately confirmed whether the new clip depicts the moment of the bone breakage and whether it was filmed before or afterwards.
Pretti did not appear to be arrested for causing damage to federal property.
The 37-year-old's death, which came just weeks after Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7, sparked an immediate uproar across the country.
A litany of criticism on both sides of the political line has put pressure on the Trump administration to make changes to the ongoing immigration crackdown in the US.
It was also revealed on Wednesday that the two Border Patrol agents who killed Pretti have been placed on administrative leave.
Sources in Homeland Security confirmed to the Daily Mail that the agents, who have not been identified, were suspended amid an investigation into the shooting.
The two Border Patrol agents who shot and killed protester Alex Pretti in Minneapolis have been placed on administrative leave
The agents were reportedly given mental health support as standard procedure, and were placed on automatic administrative leave for at least three days.
When the agents return, they will not be allowed out on the field and will be given desk roles, sources say.
The ICE officer involved in Good's shooting, Jonathan Ross, was placed on administrative leave, however following Pretti's death President Trump called for a full investigation into the latest incident.
Trump officials initially attempted to portray Pretti as a 'domestic terrorist' because he had a legally-owned firearm at the time he was shot, however a new government report has undermined allegations he 'brandished' the weapon.
The new report alleged that when an officer shouted 'gun' during his arrest, there was no evidence Pretti had taken it off his hip.
Footage of the shooting that circulated social media appeared to show a border patrol agent had disarmed Pretti moments before he was shot several times in the back.
According to the Daily Mail/JL Partners poll conducted of over 1,000 American voters on Monday, 54 percent believe that the federal law enforcement murdered Pretti. The margin of error is 3.1 percent.
More than one in five Republicans, 22 percent, said Pretti's killing constituted murder.
Just 21 percent of all respondents indicated that shooting and killing the nurse was justified.
2 comments:
The people who are interested in such things are now speculating that all the noise made by the "protestors" to interfere with ICE operations may have made it difficult or impossible for the two officers who shot to hear the officer who snagged Pretti's gun say that he had the gun.
I doubt if the ICE Agents will be prosecuted.
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