Minneapolis shooting: what the videos show
Video shared widely by US media, which AFP has not verified, however, shows Pretti with a phone in his hands, filming agents in a snow-lined street and directing traffic.
People mourn at a makeshift memorial in the area where 37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot dead by federal immigration agents earlier in the day in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 24, 2026. (Photos by AFP)
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MINNEAPOLIS — Video footage of the moment immigration agents shot dead a 37-year-old nurse in Minneapolis on Saturday appears to contradict Trump administration claims the man was a violent aggressor who sought to "massacre" federal law enforcement officials.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after the shooting, said Alex Pretti had "approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun" and "violently resisted" when they attempted to disarm him.
Administration officials did not say whether Pretti had the gun in his hands at the time.
Video shared widely by US media, which AFP has not verified, however, shows Pretti with a phone in his hands, filming ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in a snow-lined street and directing traffic.
After an agent shoves a woman protester to the ground on the sidewalk, Pretti steps in between them and is sprayed in the face by a chemical irritant.
Seconds later, as an officer in grey appears to pull a gun from Pretti's waist while Pretti is bent forward on his knees with multiple officers on top of him, agents open fire.
They shoot his motionless body several times from a distance after initially dispersing. At least 10 gunshots can be heard in the footage.
People protest in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in downtown Washington, DC, on January 24, 2026 following the deadly shooting of a man by federal immigration officers earlier in the day in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In one clip, a man can be heard saying, "Where's the gun?" as Pretti is motionless on the ground.
DHS after the shooting posted on X a photo of the handgun purportedly found on Pretti.
The department said it looked "like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."
But Pretti's parents in a subsequent statement denounced what they called "sickening lies" from the Trump administration.
"Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs," they said.
"He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed."