In Minneapolis, video evidence contradicts federal officials’ narrative of a fatal shooting by immigration agents, igniting protests and calls for accountability amid rising tensions. “The victims are border patrol agents,” Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol commander-at-large, told CNN’s State of the Union programme. Videos from the scene verified and reviewed by Reuters showed Pretti (37) holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tries to help other protesters who had been pushed to the ground by agents.
As the videos begin, Pretti can be seen filming while a federal agent pushes away one woman and shoves another woman to the ground. Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself as the agent pepper-sprays him. Several agents then take hold of Pretti — who struggles with them — and force him onto his hands and knees.
As the agents pin Pretti down, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about the presence of a gun. Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a gun from Pretti and stepping away from the group with it. Moments later, an officer with a handgun points at Pretti’s back and fires four shots in quick succession.
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Several more shots can then be heard as another agent appears to fire at Pretti. Darius Reeves, the former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) field office in Baltimore, told Reuters that federal agents’ apparent lack of communication was troubling. “It’s clear no one is communicating to me, based on my observation of how that team responded,” said Reeves.
He drew attention to signs that an officer appeared to have taken possession of Pretti’s weapon before he was killed. “The proof to me is how everyone scatters,” he said. “They’re looking around, trying to figure out where the shots came from.”
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