WASHINGTON — Two federal immigration officers discharged their weapons in the fatal shooting of armed anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend, according to a preliminary Department of Homeland Security review of the incident.
Pretti, 37, and another woman who had been blowing a whistle at the officers refused to move out of the street on Saturday after having received “several verbal requests” to do so, prompting an attempted arrest, Tuesday’s review stated.
“The woman and Pretti did not move,” according to DHS, which prompted a Customs and Border Protection officer to pepper-spray the pair.
When Customs and Border Protection officers tried to take him into custody, Pretti, who was carrying a loaded Sig Sauer pistol, “resisted” and “a struggle ensued” during which a Border Patrol agent began shouting, “He’s got a gun!”
A CBP officer also discharged his firearm in the scuffle.
Video footage of the incident shows that at least 10 shots in total were fired, though it’s unclear if Pretti’s gun also misfired.
The review noted that a Border Patrol agent made other federal officers and agents aware after the gunfire that he had taken possession of Pretti’s Sig P320.
The feds tried to provide emergency medical aid as well to Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse. He was pronounced dead within half an hour of the confrontation.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office is currently conducting an autopsy.
The DHS review was based on body camera footage and other CBP documents.
The preliminary findings were turned over to congressional committees tasked with oversight of DHS.
The incident marked the second fatal shooting of an anti-ICE protester in Minnesota within the last month.
Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7 after she blocked a Minneapolis roadway with her vehicle and drove in the direction of an agent.
“I think the whole thing is terrible,” President Trump said of Pretti’s death Tuesday, during an appearance on Fox News. “I don’t like the fact that he was carrying a gun that was fully loaded, and he had two magazines with him — and it’s pretty unusual, but nobody knows when they saw the gun, how they saw the gun, everything else.
“Bottom line, it was terrible.”
Trump moved to replace Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino as the head of “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis, and move out some of his agents, on Monday in response to the shooting.
“We have Tom Homan there now,” Trump told “The Will Cain Show,” noting that his border czar plans to “de-escalate a little bit.”
