Did Alex peretti kick out a tai llight of an ICE vehicle
Executive summary
Video footage published Jan. 28–29 shows a man identified by family and multiple news organizations as Alex Pretti kicking and breaking the rear taillight of a federal law-enforcement SUV during a Minneapolis protest on Jan. 13, and the encounter led to agents pushing him to the ground that day, according to the reporting [1][2][3]. Major outlets that reviewed and verified the footage report the same core act — Pretti appears to kick and shatter the taillight as agents pull away — while authorities say the incident is under review [4][2][5].
1. What the footage shows, according to multiple outlets
Several videos published by The News Movement and reported by national outlets show a man yelling at federal agents, spitting toward an agent, and then kicking the back of an unmarked federal SUV twice, with the second kick breaking the red plastic taillight and leaving it dangling, according to The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, CBS News and Fox affiliates that independently verified the clip [1][2][4][6]. The footage was recorded on Jan. 13 in Minneapolis and has been described consistently across outlets as showing the taillight being damaged by the kicks in real time [3][2].
2. Identification and verification of the person in the video
A family representative and the lawyer for Pretti’s family have confirmed that the person in the Jan. 13 footage is Alex Pretti, and outlets including CBS News and PBS note that the video was verified by partners such as the BBC and local reporters [4][2][3]. News organizations that covered the clip report they confirmed the footage was filmed in Minneapolis and that the family knew about the earlier Jan. 13 incident [4][7].
3. How federal authorities and newsrooms responded
Homeland Security Investigations and other federal officials have said they are reviewing the newly surfaced videos and the actions depicted, and some agents seen in the Jan. 13 encounter were placed on leave pending review, according to CBS and local reporting [2][4]. Reporting notes the Jan. 13 incident occurred amid heightened tensions around immigration enforcement operations in the neighborhood and came roughly four blocks from another fatal encounter with an agent earlier that month, context that outlets say helped explain the strong emotions captured on camera [5][2].
4. Competing framings and claims on social media
Conservative commentators and social posts amplified the Jan. 13 footage to portray Pretti as confrontational in the days before he was fatally shot, and some posts added unverified claims about a visible gun or other details; major outlets caution that social amplification included commentary beyond what the verified video itself shows [8][9]. At the same time, Pretti’s attorney and family representatives stressed that the earlier scuffle does not justify his later death, a stance reported by multiple outlets that underscores opposing narratives about cause and consequence [2][3].
5. What remains unclear from available reporting
Reports uniformly say it is unclear what, if anything, precipitated the Jan. 13 exchange before the clip begins, and news organizations note limits in the footage’s context — for example, what led the person identified as Pretti to approach the vehicle or what orders agents were operating under immediately prior to the kicks — matters not shown in the videos and not established in the reporting [5][10]. Federal investigators have acknowledged reviewing the material, but public accounts to date do not resolve all contextual questions about the incident [2].
6. Bottom line
Based on multiple, independently reported and verified videos, Alex Pretti is shown kicking and damaging the taillight of a federal vehicle during a Jan. 13 Minneapolis protest, an act that led to a physical confrontation in which agents pushed him to the ground; that sequence is documented in the footage and reported by mainstream outlets [1][2][3]. The footage does not, by itself, resolve broader questions about motive, prior interactions, or how the Jan. 13 incident relates to events that culminated in Pretti’s later death, matters that remain under investigation and subject to competing narratives [5][2].