Video evidence released in recent days has added significant context to the death of Alex Pretti, complicating a narrative that initially portrayed the Minneapolis incident as an isolated confrontation.
Footage from January 13, captured and published by The News Movement, shows Pretti engaging in an aggressive encounter with federal immigration officers just days before he was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents on January 24.
The video depicts Pretti spitting toward officers and forcefully kicking out the taillight of their vehicle as it attempted to leave the scene. He then raises his middle finger before one agent exits the vehicle and quickly wrestles him to the ground. The scuffle is brief. Pretti manages to slip out of his coat and retreat behind a group of protesters, and the officers do not pursue him. Notably, what appears to be a firearm can be seen protruding from Pretti’s waistband during the encounter.
Pretti’s family attorney, Steve Schleicher, has confirmed that Pretti is the individual shown in the footage. Schleicher characterized the January 13 incident as an unjustified assault by immigration agents, arguing that nothing that occurred days earlier could justify Pretti’s later death. That interpretation, however, exists alongside a growing body of documented facts that indicate Pretti had a prior violent confrontation with federal officers and was known to authorities before the fatal encounter.
The Minnesota Star Tribune confirmed with Alex Pretti’s family that the man in this video is indeed Alex Pretti.
Filmed by @thenewsmovement on January 13, two weeks before Pretti was shot by ICE: pic.twitter.com/1yLKLApXvB
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) January 28, 2026
The January 13 incident occurred in Minneapolis’ Powderhorn neighborhood, less than half a mile from where Renee Good was shot and killed on January 7. In that earlier case, Good used her vehicle to block immigration officers and struck one of them as agents attempted to detain her.
Together, the two incidents intensified protests and unrest in the city, placing Minnesota at the center of a national debate over immigration enforcement and the limits of protest activity.
Pretti was shot during an altercation with Border Patrol agents eleven days after the January 13 confrontation. CNN has reported that his earlier encounter with immigration agents resulted in a broken rib, underscoring that the interaction was not merely verbal. Despite the existence of video footage, the Department of Homeland Security has stated it has no official record of the January 13 incident, a discrepancy that has drawn scrutiny as investigations continue.
In response to the unrest following Pretti’s death, the Trump administration adjusted its federal presence in Minnesota, replacing Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino with White House border czar Tom Homan. Homan has since met with Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in an effort to coordinate between federal, state, and local authorities.
