What do eyewitness video and bystander testimonies show about the earlier confrontation in which Pretti reportedly broke a rib?
Executive summary
Eyewitness videos and bystander testimony show that about 11 days before Alex Pretti was fatally shot, multiple witnesses recorded federal agents tackling and restraining him during a chaotic protest scene — actions that sources told CNN left him with a broken rib and that the family says was not medically treated [1] [2] [3]. Those audiovisual records depict agents using crowd-control munitions and pinning Pretti to the ground, but government records and DHS statements dispute or have no administrative trace of the earlier incident, leaving parts of the medical and accountability picture unresolved [4] [3].
1. Video shows a crowd confrontation and agents bringing Pretti to the ground
Multiple bystander videos published and verified by outlets show a January 13 encounter in Minneapolis in which federal agents and protesters clashed, with footage capturing agents appearing to grab Pretti, tackle him, and hold him down on the street amid honking cars and people blowing whistles to warn neighbors [1] [2] [4]. The Minnesota Star Tribune and The News Movement circulated clips that show the rough physical handling of Pretti by several officers; those same clips were described in reporting as lasting about two minutes and occurring during a tense, larger immigration-enforcement operation [1] [2].
2. Crowd-control measures — teargas and pepper balls — are visible in the clips
The videos show agents firing tear gas and pepper-ball munitions into the crowd while Pretti is restrained, creating a chaotic scene that bystanders recorded even as officers continued to pin him down [1] [4]. Eyewitness testimony echoed the audio-visual record of munitions deployment, and multiple outlets noted that agents retreated without arresting Pretti that day [1] [5].
3. Family and reporters say Pretti sustained a broken rib; video does not directly show the injury
CNN reported, citing sources and medical records, that Pretti incurred a broken rib in that earlier confrontation and later received medication consistent with such an injury; the family’s representatives have said Pretti sustained injuries and did not get medical care after the incident [3] [2]. The footage itself documents force being applied — tackling and people leaning on him — but it does not clearly show a rib fracture, so the broken-rib claim rests on reporting, medical notes and witness statements rather than an obvious visual break visible on camera [3] [6].
4. Government denial and gaps in official records complicate the narrative
The Department of Homeland Security has told news outlets it has no record of the earlier incident, a contradiction to CNN’s sourcing and to family accounts; that gap has been explicitly reported and cited by multiple outlets as an unresolved discrepancy between bystander evidence and administrative logs [3] [7]. Independent reporting flags this tension: videos and witnesses indicate force was used, while DHS’s internal paperwork—at least as described publicly—does not document the encounter, which raises accountability and investigatory questions [8] [3].
5. Alternative footage and social posts introduce contested details
Separate social-media clips circulating after the incident purport to show Pretti spitting on or damaging an ICE vehicle and at least one short clip was interpreted by some outlets as showing a gun in his waistband; those snippets have been reported and acknowledged by news coverage but are contested and do not negate the bystander videos that document the takedown itself [9] [5]. Reporting notes the difference between what the body‑cam‑adjacent bystander footage captures (the physical restraint) and ancillary social clips (which some interpret as provocative conduct), underscoring how competing frames have emerged from the same days of unrest [9] [5].
6. What the record proves and what remains uncertain
Verified bystander videos prove Pretti was grappled, tackled and held down during a January protest and that agents deployed crowd-control munitions while he was restrained; family and source reporting further assert he suffered a broken rib and received medication consistent with that injury [1] [4] [3]. What remains unproven on the public record is whether DHS formally recorded the incident (DHS says it has no record) and whether the injury’s medical documentation fully ties to that encounter on the date in question — the broken-rib detail is based on reporting and medical indicators rather than a single unambiguous image in the videos [3] [7].