ICE blow of hand

1. What the government says: a violent struggle over a firearm

The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection have presented a narrative in which Border Patrol officers conducting a "targeted operation" were approached by a man allegedly armed with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, prompting an attempt to disarm him and defensive gunfire; DHS released photos of a recovered weapon and described agents as fearing for their lives ^[1].

2. What the videos and family say: hands, phones and restraint, not a visible gun

Multiple bystander videos analyzed by news organizations and BBC Verify show Alex Pretti with a phone in his hand, being pushed, pepper‑sprayed and wrestled to the ground—images that contradict the immediate federal description of an “armed struggle” and that underlie family statements insisting he held no weapon at the time he was shot .

3. Independent press and analysis: conflicting frames, similar footage

News outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN and others have analyzed the same footage and reported that those videos counter the administration’s initial account, prompting demands for more transparent evidence and fuller explanations; some reporting highlights moments where an agent appears to run away holding an object and where agents disarm or search the body after the shooting .

4. The immediate consequences: agents placed on leave and political fallout

CBP says the two agents involved were placed on administrative leave as is standard when federal shootings are investigated, while local and state officials—mayor, governor and members of Congress—have publicly demanded investigations and called for ICE operations to be paused in Minneapolis amid protests and political outrage .

5. Investigations, evidence chain and legal maneuvers remain unsettled

DHS has provided a preliminary report to Congress that describes a struggle and an officer’s shout that the suspect had a gun before two agents fired, but prosecutors, local authorities and the family have pushed for preservation and independent review of evidence; a Hennepin County suit to prevent destruction of evidence and multiple calls for outside probes underscore how central chain‑of‑custody and video interpretation will be to any final finding .

6. How to read competing narratives and what is not yet provable

The core factual disputes are narrow and consequential: whether Pretti in the seconds before the shooting held a firearm or a phone, whether the agents initiated the physical confrontation that escalated, and whether any gunfire might have been accidental during the struggle—reporting raises plausible alternative interpretations (including Slate’s argument the footage undercuts official claims) but does not definitively prove intent or precise sequence of each bullet and movement; those determinations rest with ongoing investigations and forensic evidence not fully disclosed in public reporting .

7. Bottom line: hands-on force is visible; the gun claim is contested and investigatory findings will decide accountability

What is clear from the available reporting is that federal agents used physical force—pushing, pepper‑spraying and wrestling—and that multiple videos and family statements contradict the administration’s initial emphasis on an armed suspect; what is not yet settled in public reporting is the complete forensic chain and definitive reconstruction of whether and how a weapon was fired during the struggle, which is why investigators, not initial press releases, will determine legal accountability .