Was Alex Pretti aggressive towards ICE? What caused them to shoot him?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows sharply divergent accounts: federal officials say Border Patrol agents shot Alex Pretti in self‑defense after he resisted disarmament and had a handgun, while multiple eyewitnesses and video analyses say Pretti did not brandish a gun, was holding a phone, and was tackled and shot while prone; those inconsistencies are at the heart of why agents fired and why the shooting is under federal scrutiny [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The official narrative: agents acted in self‑defense
The Department of Homeland Security and administration officials framed the incident as a defensive use of force, saying agents attempted to disarm a man who they assert had a 9mm semi‑automatic and “violently resisted,” with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other senior officials presenting a version in which an imminent threat justified the shooting [1] [5].
2. Eyewitnesses and multiple videos tell a different story
Eyewitness sworn statements and bystander videos filed with courts and published by outlets show Pretti yelling at agents, moving to aid a woman who had been pushed, holding a phone in his right hand and raising an empty left hand, being shoved, pepper‑sprayed, wrestled to the ground by multiple agents, and then shot — with witnesses saying they saw no sign he brandished a weapon or attacked officers [2] [3] [4] [6].
3. Visual evidence and expert analysis deepen the contradiction
News organizations that analyzed multiple clips report scenes in which one agent appears to take a handgun away from Pretti just before another agent opens fire, and analysts say the clearest videos show Pretti holding a phone rather than a firearm; that visual record directly contradicts the administration’s immediate public assertions that he was the “gunman” [4] [3] [7].
4. Family, community and professional background complicate the “aggression” label
Pretti’s parents, neighbors and colleagues described him as an ICU nurse and community member who sometimes shouted at law enforcement in protest but was not known to be physically confrontational; his family and local supporters have rejected the characterization of him as an armed aggressor and call official statements “sickening lies,” amplifying public doubt about the self‑defense claim [8] [9] [3].
5. Law enforcement responses, political spin and ongoing investigations
Federal officials quickly defended the agents and the White House amplified claims of a seized firearm and imminent threat, while governors, members of Congress and civil liberties groups demanded transparency and an investigation — the Department of Justice opened a federal inquiry and the ACLU filed suit attaching witness affidavits that contradict the official account, underscoring that legal and political processes will be central to determining what caused agents to shoot [9] [4] [2].
6. What can be concluded now about whether Pretti was “aggressive” and why agents shot him
Based on the available reporting, there is no uncontested evidence that Pretti physically attacked agents or brandished a firearm before he was tackled and shot; official claims that he was armed and “violently resisted” are directly contradicted by multiple witnesses and video analyses showing a phone in his hand and agents pinning him down, while the government maintains agents perceived a lethal threat — the proximate cause cited for the shooting is the agents’ assertion of self‑defense, but that assertion is disputed by contemporaneous evidence and is the subject of ongoing federal review [2] [3] [1] [4].