“An individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun… The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted… Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots… This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement. ”
The quote above is from Homeland Security‘s post on X, describing the department’s take on how and why agents of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed a Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen Jan. 24.
The trouble is, these statements do not match what many eyewitnesses swore they saw, nor what officials and the general public can see for themselves in multiple videos of the event. Nor do they jibe with the reported character of the victim, Alex Jeffrey Pretti.
37-year-old Pretti was an intensive care nurse for a Veterans Affairs hospital who “cared deeply about people,” according to interviews with his family published by AP. Because he thought it was terrible the way the new Border Patrol operation was “kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street” among other things, he participated in protests against ICE.
This, in itself, was the crime he committed according to Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino. “He did not need to be where he was,” he said in an interview conducted by Dana Bash of CNN Jan. 25. This was after Bash pressed for any evidence that Pretti, who had no criminal record, was trying to “impede” any law enforcement activity.
When Bash pointed out that it was legal for Pretti to stand on the sidewalk and film the scene with his phone, Bovino responded, “Let’s don’t ‘freeze-frame adjudicate’ this, now.”
He must have been aware that analysis of the video evidence (freeze-frame or otherwise) has filled the news since Saturday. The New York Times provides a moment-by-moment analysis of the scene covered by several video angles, which appear to contradict the DHS tweet along with various other statements from federal officials.
The Times‘ analysis follows when agents assault bystanders near Pretti, before they fire pepper spray into his face. Pretti holds one hand up to protect himself and a bystander against the spray, while still holding his phone in the other hand. Several masked agents attack Pretti and wrestle him to the ground and beat him. One is seen removing the pistol Pretti carries (legally) in a holster on his right hip. Then, shots are fired at Pretti while he is on his knees, restrained by some agents. The other agents clear away from Pretti as he collapses in the street. As he lies motionless in the street, agents continue to shoot him.
While Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of “terrorizing” his city, Bovino told CNN, incredibly, that “the victims are the Border Patrol agents. The suspect put himself in that situation.”
Meanwhile, Homeland Security and its head Kristi Noem blithely refer to Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” who intended to “massacre officers.”
DHS reportedly blocked the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the scene. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz vowed justice will be done nonetheless, saying, “The federal government cannot be trusted with this investigation.”
In a late addition to this post, one acceptable outcome: The Atlantic reported last night that Bovino has been ousted from his Commander-at-Large role, soon to be shoved into retirement. In the fallout of this public relations debacle for Donald Trump, The Atlantic‘s sources say, Noem and her adviser Corey Lewandowski may be next for the chopping block.
The above summarizes content from:
- AP News’ Jan. 24, 2026 article, “The man killed by a US Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis was an ICU nurse, family says” by Michael Biesecker, Tim Sullivan, and Jim Mustian.
- CNN’s Jan. 25, 2026 video, “Dana Bash presses Greg Bovino about video analysis that appears to contradict DHS account of fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.”
- The New York Times’ Jan. 25, 2026 summary in “The Morning” (“Another Shooting”).
- The New York Times’ Jan. 24, 2026 article, “Timeline: A Moment by Moment Look at the Shooting of Alex Pretti” by Bora Erden, Devon Lum, Helmuth Rosales, Elena Shao and Haley Willis.
- NPR’s Jan. 25, 2026 article “Videos and eyewitnesses refute federal account of Minneapolis shooting” by Jennifer Ludden and Liz Baker.
- The Atlantic‘s Jan. 26, 2026 article “Greg Bovino Loses His Job” by Nick Miroff.
Photograph of ICE and Border Patrol agents on Nicollet Avenue following the killing of Alex Pretti, by Chad Davis, CC BY 4.0, Link
Related posts: