What do the verified videos of the Alex Pretti shooting show frame by frame?
Executive summary
Verified bystander videos, analyzed frame by frame by multiple outlets, show Alex Pretti standing with a phone, being shoved and then wrestled to the ground by several federal agents, and then being shot while on or near the ground; the footage does not clearly show him brandishing a firearm before the shooting, though some frames later show an agent with an object that could be a handgun (NYT, USA Today, Guardian, BBC, Yahoo) [1][2][3][4][5].
1. The opening frames: Pretti visible holding a phone, not a gun
Early frames captured by multiple bystanders establish Pretti in the street holding up an object consistent with a phone as agents approach; The New York Times’ frame-by-frame visual analysis concluded he was “clearly visible holding a phone” before the physical confrontation began, a finding mirrored by USA Today and other outlets that verified the same clips [1][2].
2. The escalation: shove, fall, and a clustered wrestle
A clearer continuous clip shows an agent shove a nearby person who falls; witnesses and synchronized timelines indicate Pretti moves toward that person, at which point several federal agents converge, pull him down and a close-quarters scuffle ensues with multiple officers grappling him to the pavement — a sequence observed and described in reports from The Guardian, BBC and New York media analyses [3][6][7].
3. The shooting itself: shots fired while Pretti is on the ground
The videos show agents firing multiple rounds during the altercation and after Pretti is on or being forced to the ground; at least one outlet counted ten shots in the footage and observers report the firing occurring while Pretti was restrained or kneeling, which has become a central point of controversy between the visuals and federal statements [8][7].
4. The disputed handgun sequence: ambiguous frames after the shooting
Frame-by-frame scrutiny cited by Yahoo and others identifies a moment in which an agent in a gray coat bends down and later is seen standing with something in his hand that could be a handgun, leading to debate about whether an agent recovered a weapon from Pretti before or after the fatal shots; New York Times and other visual investigators note that available clips do not show Pretti brandishing a gun prior to the shots, and that the sequence of any recovery is indistinct in public footage [5][1].
5. What the videos do not show and competing official claims
The videos do not settle whether Pretti ever presented a weapon in a way that justified lethal force: Department of Homeland Security has asserted Pretti approached agents with a handgun, while agencies and outlets (including CBS/BBC partnerships) acknowledge the gun is not visible in the bystander videos they verified; federal officials cite other evidence not yet publicly available, and media analyses caution that absence of visible proof on camera is not proof of absence but does highlight a mismatch between the visual record and official narrative [9][1][2].
6. Why the frame-by-frame findings matter: accountability and the unsettled timeline
Journalistic synchronization of multiple clips — including work referenced by Bellingcat and aggregated by news outlets — has produced a coherent timeline showing a phone in hand, a defensive or intervening movement toward a shoved bystander, a rapid cluster takedown, and fatal shots as Pretti is restrained; that timeline has fueled political and legal fallout because it appears to contradict initial DHS accounts and raises questions about whether agents recovered or controlled any weapon before the shooting, a question investigators must answer with evidence beyond the publicly available videos [7][1][3].