Alex pretti
Executive summary
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse in Minneapolis, was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during an enforcement operation on Jan. 24, 2026; federal officials immediately characterized him as armed and dangerous while multiple witness affidavits and video analyses published hours later contest that narrative [1] [2] [3]. The death has galvanized local outrage, prompted political pushback against the federal immigration operation, and triggered legal filings that already contain sworn testimony contradicting key claims by Department of Homeland Security officials [4] [5] [3].
1. The shooting and the federal account
Federal authorities say Pretti approached agents with a 9mm handgun and thus posed an imminent threat that justified the use of lethal force; DHS released an image of a gun it said was found and senior administration figures called the event an act of self‑defense and framed the man as a threat to officers [6] [7] [5]. That official account was widely reported and used by administration spokespeople to defend the operation and the agent’s actions in immediate public statements [7] [6].
2. Witness testimony and video that challenge the official version
Multiple bystander videos and sworn witness affidavits filed in federal court describe Pretti holding a phone — not a gun — as he approached agents and show him being tackled and restrained before fatal shots were fired, a timeline that appears to contradict the claim that he was actively brandishing a weapon when shot [6] [1] [3]. Two specific witnesses — a woman who filmed the incident and a physician who viewed the scene from an apartment window — submitted affidavits saying they did not see Pretti brandish any weapon and that he was trying to help a person who had been shoved to the ground [3] [2].
3. Who Alex Pretti was — family, work and public persona
Pretti worked as an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital and was described by family and colleagues as a devoted caregiver and community member; his parents issued a statement denouncing administration accounts as “sickening lies” and urged that the truth be told [8] [9] [10]. Reporting notes he had a permit to carry a handgun and owned a firearm, but family members said they had not known him to carry it that day, and videos circulated by witnesses show him with a phone in hand [9] [6] [8].
4. Political fallout and competing narratives
The shooting intensified debates already roiling Minneapolis after other recent federal shootings in the city, with local officials and Minnesota’s governor criticizing the federal operation and calling for agents to be pulled back, while Republican lawmakers and DHS leaders defended the agents’ actions and framed the killing within law‑enforcement prerogatives [4] [5] [7]. The divergence between administration statements — including some strong language from White House advisers — and on‑the‑ground videos and affidavits has produced a sharp clash of narratives and immediate legal action, including an ACLU lawsuit that incorporated the newly filed witness affidavits [3] [2] [11].
5. What remains unresolved and the next steps for accountability
Official investigations and forensic reviews remain pending; media analyses have produced moment‑by‑moment timelines suggesting Pretti was restrained when the fatal shots were fired, but those analyses do not substitute for a formal investigative record and law‑enforcement agencies have not yet released a public, conclusive account that reconciles the videos, the DHS evidence, and witness statements [1] [12]. The facts critical to legal outcomes — the precise sequence of force, whether a weapon was presented during the confrontation, and which policies governed the agents’ conduct — are being litigated and investigated, and public reporting to date reflects those competing evidentiary claims rather than settled findings [3] [1].
6. Why this matters beyond one death
Beyond the personal tragedy for Pretti’s family, the episode has become a flashpoint in a broader national struggle over federal immigration enforcement, use of force by federal officers in American cities, and how quickly political actors shape public narratives before investigations conclude; both advocates for accountability and defenders of the agents cite different pieces of the emerging record to support diametrically opposed conclusions [4] [6] [5]. Reporting so far documents sharp contradictions between official assertions and witness/video evidence, but does not yet resolve them; the public will need the results of independent investigation and transparent release of evidence to adjudicate competing claims [1] [3].