A video has popped up this week showing Alex Pretti in a physical confrontation with federal immigration agents on January 13, nearly two weeks before he was fatally shot on January 24 in a separate confrontation with Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis.
The footage, filmed by The News Movement, captures Pretti cursing at federal agents before spitting at them and kicking out the tail light of the squad’s SUV.
The agents then get out of the vehicle, tackling him to the ground. Pretti would wriggle away free by slipping out of his jacket during the tussle, and soon after, flee from the scene. During the scuffle, a gun is visibly tucked into the back of Pretti’s waistband, though he doesn’t reach for it.
A source connected to the Pretti’s family has since confirmed he was the person in the video taken 11 days before the shooting incident, per AP News. Lawyers representing the parents of Pretti have since released a statement saying that he was “violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents,” and “nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24.”
The family did not mention that Pretti was inciting violence in the January 13 incident, screaming at agents, saying, “F*cking assault me motherf*cker, f*cking trash,” before spitting on ice agents and kicking out their taillight. He appeared unhinged.
On January 24, Pretti was filming with his phone and once again yelling at agents during an immigration enforcement operation when an officer pepper-sprayed him. After another face-to-face confrontation, multiple agents tackled him, and during the struggle, someone repeatedly yelled, “He’s got a gun!”Roughly five seconds later, two agents fired defensive shots, hitting and killing Pretti.
Within minutes, the Department of Homeland Security posted on X their first account of the shooting:
At 9:05 AM CT, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault, an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, seen here.
The officers attempted to… pic.twitter.com/5Y50mYONGH
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 24, 2026
The full text of the post above reads as follows:
At 9:05 AM CT, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault, an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, seen here.
The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. More details on the armed struggle are forthcoming.
Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID—this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
About 200 rioters arrived at the scene and began to obstruct and assault law enforcement on the scene, crowd control measures were deployed for the safety of the public and law enforcement.
This situation is evolving, and more information is forthcoming.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to NBC that both agents who fired their weapons during the incident have been placed on administrative leave. CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility is conducting an internal review of the shooting, and so is DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations branch.
