Was Pretti holding a gun in his right hand?
Executive summary
Multiple independently verified bystander videos and news analyses show Alex Pretti holding a phone in his right hand (and an empty left hand raised) in the moments before he was wrestled to the ground and shot, contradicting early Department of Homeland Security claims that he was “approaching” agents with a handgun; video evidence also shows an agent removing a handgun from the scuffle before shots were fired, but the footage does not show Pretti brandishing a gun in his right hand immediately prior to being shot [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What the videos show: phone in right hand, left hand empty
Multiple outlets that verified and reviewed bystander videos report that Pretti is seen holding what appears to be a phone in his right hand while his left hand is raised and empty as agents push and then pin people to the ground, and those videos do not show him holding a gun in his right hand at the critical moments before he is shot [1] [5] [4] [6].
2. The federal account vs. visible footage
The Department of Homeland Security publicly asserted that Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and that agents fired “defensive shots” after attempting to disarm him; those statements were issued quickly and repeatedly by senior officials even as multiple bystander videos circulated that appear to contradict the narrative that Pretti was visibly brandishing a pistol in his hands at the time of the confrontation [2] [7] [6].
3. Video evidence that an agent had secured a handgun before shots
Detailed analyses by outlets including The Washington Post and The New York Times concluded that video from several angles shows an agent removing a handgun from the scuffle—at least one agent emerges from the grapple holding a pistol—before or just as shots are fired, suggesting Pretti had been carrying a firearm on his person though he is not seen brandishing it in his hand immediately before the shooting [3] [8].
4. Witness statements and family position
Two witnesses filed sworn statements saying they did not see Pretti brandish a gun, and Pretti’s family has emphatically said he was holding a phone in his right hand and an empty left hand while trying to protect others; those accounts align with the bystander footage that many outlets have relied on [9] [5] [4].
5. Where uncertainty remains and why it matters
The footage establishes that Pretti was carrying a firearm on his person and that an agent at some point held a gun taken from the scuffle, but it does not show him visibly holding a handgun in his right hand at the exact moment he was pinned and immediately before shots were fired; therefore the narrower question—was Pretti holding a gun in his right hand at that instant—must be answered: the verified video evidence shows a phone in his right hand, not a gun [3] [1] [10].
6. Competing narratives and institutional agendas
Federal officials framed the encounter in terms of officer self-defense and quickly publicized descriptions of Pretti as an armed assailant, a narrative that political allies amplified; independent video verification teams, local officials and news analyses have highlighted contradictions between those statements and what can be seen on camera, underscoring both an evidentiary dispute and the political stakes for DHS and the administration in shaping public perception [7] [6] [11].
Conclusion
On the specific question posed—was Pretti holding a gun in his right hand—the preponderance of verified bystander video and contemporaneous witness statements show he was holding a phone in his right hand and not visibly holding a gun in that hand immediately before he was tackled and shot, even though footage also indicates an agent later secured a handgun from the scuffle [1] [3] [4].