Videos Challenge Federal Account of Border Patrol Shooting of Minneapolis Nurse

Witness video of a Border Patrol officer fatally shooting a Minneapolis man appeared to undercut key elements of the federal account of the incident, intensifying a political and legal clash between Minnesota officials and the Trump administration over who controls the investigation cnn +1. The victim, 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was killed Saturday morning, Jan. 24, during a federal immigration operation in south Minneapolis, the second fatal shooting by a federal officer in the city this month cnn +2.

What Happened on Nicollet Avenue — and What the Videos Show

Federal officials said Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi‑automatic handgun” and violently resisted attempts to disarm him, prompting “defensive shots” in self‑defense cbsnews +1. President Trump amplified that narrative online, posting an image of what he said was the victim’s gun and calling him a “dangerous gunman” nbcnews +1. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the confrontation unfolded in “seconds” and that all videos would be reviewed npr +1.

Bystander footage from multiple angles, verified by major news outlets, instead showed Pretti holding a cellphone, apparently recording, as agents deployed pepper spray on protesters and shoved people near the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and West 26th Street nytimes +2. In the videos, several agents wrestled Pretti to the ground; he was pinned face‑down when an officer fired a rapid series of shots, with New York Times analysis indicating at least 10 rounds in about five seconds nytimes +1. A gun is visible only after the struggle, when an agent emerges from the pile holding a firearm, raising questions about when and how it entered the encounter nytimes +1. A witness declaration filed by the ACLU of Minnesota described Pretti as helping a woman who had been shoved before he was pepper‑sprayed, tackled and shot, saying, “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera” abcnews.

Legal Standoff and Escalating Political Fallout

Minnesota investigators from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) sought to take over the scene Saturday but were initially blocked by federal officials even after obtaining a state search warrant, prompting Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty to file an emergency lawsuit in federal court cbsnews +2. Late that night, U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud issued a temporary restraining order barring DHS and Border Patrol from destroying or altering any evidence related to the shooting, including material already removed from the scene cbsnews +2.

Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanded that the federal immigration surge in Minnesota — estimated at roughly 3,000 agents under “Operation Metro Surge” — be scaled back or halted, with Walz vowing that “Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word on this” npr +1. Thousands braved subzero temperatures for vigils and marches over the weekend, as civil rights groups and some national Democrats called for an independent investigation and, in some cases, for Noem’s resignation npr +1. Even some Republicans in Congress urged a deeper review of immigration enforcement tactics following Pretti’s death abcnews.

The Bigger Picture

The contested shooting of Alex Pretti, coming weeks after an ICE agent killed another Minneapolis resident, pushed long‑simmering tensions over federal immigration enforcement into a direct confrontation over evidence, accountability and jurisdiction apnews +1. With DHS insisting on leading the inquiry and state leaders pressing for joint control and full access to footage, ballistics and medical records, the case now doubles as a test of how far a state can go to challenge federal law‑enforcement operations within its borders bbc +1. The next key moment will come in federal court, where judges will decide how evidence is handled — and, indirectly, how much of what the public has already seen on cellphone video will shape the official story.