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Two witnesses to the killing of Alex Pretti have said in sworn testimony that he was not carrying a weapon when he was shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday.
So what? Their testimony, as well as video footage, contradicts the account of the Trump administration, which said the 37-year-old intensive care nurse was carrying “a 9mm semi-automatic handgun” and was shot in self-defence. His killing
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is the second by federal agents in Minneapolis this month;
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prompted calls for an investigation from across the US political spectrum; and
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fanned fears that Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown is imperilling US democracy.
Bearing witness. Although the White House called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” who tried to “murder federal agents”, one witness said Pretti was attempting to help a woman when he was bundled to the ground and was carrying a camera, not a gun. The other witness, a physician who attended to Pretti after he was shot, said he did not “brandish a weapon of any kind”.
Emerging accounts. Footage of the incident shows Pretti being held to the ground by several agents, who seem to pin his arms behind his head. There is a shout that he has a gun. An agent then pulls a weapon from the melee, as another fires at Pretti. Another agent also appears to shoot. In total, at least 10 shots seem to have been fired in five seconds. Following outrage around the incident, Trump told the WSJ his administration is “reviewing everything”.
Crackdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began its operations in Minneapolis in December. It has deployed 3,000 agents and conducted more than 3,000 arrests, accused of picking up people based solely on their skin colour and accents. Recently, two children aged 2 and 5 were detained alongside their parents.
Resistance. Locals have pushed back, with volunteer observers tracking the agents’ movements and using whistles to warn neighbours of their presence. Masked agents have responded by discharging pepper spray into vehicles and smashing in windows.
Second case. Pretti’s killing has parallels with the shooting of Renée Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three who was killed by an ICE agent earlier in January. She too was branded a “domestic terrorist” by the Trump administration, which claimed Good tried to ram an agent with her car, even though footage showed her turning away as the fatal shots were fired.
Go hard. In both incidents, the administration put forward its own version of events immediately and then doubled down on its account, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. It has also impeded independent investigations. It is a playbook that disregards the rule of law, the notion of accountability and the truth.
Push back. As protestors gathered in Minneapolis yesterday, state governor Tim Walz renewed his calls for ICE to leave the city. He also deployed the National Guard to the site of the shooting and a federal building that has been the site of anti-ICE demonstrations.
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Powerless. Local officials cannot evict federal agencies. These are supposed to protect citizens if state bodies fail to do so. Instead Trump has weaponised them to intimidate political opponents, having ordered ICE operations in Los Angeles, Chicago and other Democratic cities.
Tip of the spear. ICE’s budget has grown from about $10bn a year to $85bn. If it were a military force, it would be the 6th best-funded in the world, based on 2024 levels of global defence spending. It is currently pursuing a “wartime recruitment” drive, hiring over 12,000 agents, with outreach aimed at military enthusiasts and gun-rights advocates.
What’s more… To plug manpower shortages, eligibility requirements have been relaxed and basic training for new recruits has been slashed from five months to just 42 days.
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images