Minnesota Sues DHS After Border Patrol Shooting of Nurse Alex Pretti

Video from multiple angles appeared to show a U.S. Border Patrol agent had already taken a handgun from 37‑year‑old ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti moments before federal agents shot him dead on a Minneapolis street Saturday, intensifying clashes over federal immigration enforcement and triggering an unusual court order to preserve evidence aljazeera +2. The killing, the second fatal shooting by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis this month, set off protests, emergency legal action by Minnesota officials and fresh questions over whether agents followed federal use‑of‑force rules washingtonpost +2.

Pretti, a U.S. citizen, legal gun owner and intensive care nurse at a VA hospital, was shot around 9 a.m. Saturday near Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street during an immigration operation, according to state and federal officials facebook +1. The Department of Homeland Security said he “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi‑automatic handgun,” resisted attempts to disarm him and was killed when an agent fired “defensive shots” wsj +1. His parents called that account a “sickening” lie, saying their son had a carry permit and never threatened agents latimes.

Video Evidence Undercuts Federal Narrative

A visual‑forensics analysis by the Washington Post of at least three bystander videos concluded that as many as eight agents wrestled Pretti to the ground, and that one officer emerged from the scrum holding a handgun removed from his waistband less than a second before shots rang out aljazeera. The New York Times and other outlets counted roughly 10 shots in about five seconds, with at least two agents appearing to fire while Pretti lay on the pavement cbsnews +1.

Footage circulated on social media showed Pretti standing with a phone in his right hand before agents rushed him; witnesses said in sworn statements that he never brandished his weapon and was trying to help a woman agents had shoved to the ground kare11 +1. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the clips showed “masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death,” while DHS officials continued to emphasize that he had been armed and “violently resisted” cnn +1. Legal experts noted that under the Fourth Amendment, deadly force is justified only if an officer reasonably believes there is an imminent threat of death or serious injury — a judgment that will likely hinge on whether a gun was still in play when agents opened fire usatoday +1.

Legal Clash Over Evidence and Federal Power

Within hours of the shooting, Minnesota’s attorney general and governor sued to block federal officials from controlling the investigation, accusing DHS of limiting access to prior crime scenes involving immigration agents usatoday +1. Late Saturday, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order barring DHS and related agencies from “destroying or altering” any evidence, including body‑camera footage, surveillance video, weapons and shell casings, and ordering that it be preserved for state investigators washingtonpost +1.

The confrontation came amid an ongoing federal surge of immigration officers to Minneapolis and followed the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent, a case that has already prompted Justice Department resignations and a decision in Washington not to pursue a civil‑rights probe pbs +2. Gov. Tim Walz said “Minnesota has had it” and demanded that immigration agents leave the state, insisting “Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word on this” cnn +1. DHS and Border Patrol officials countered that their officers were under attack and that they would not withdraw, warning that restricting their operations would endanger public safety washingtonpost +1.

The Bigger Picture

The Pretti shooting deepened a national debate over the scope and accountability of federal immigration forces, with Democrats in Congress threatening to hold up DHS funding and some Republicans rallying behind the agents startribune +1. An online fundraiser for Pretti’s family quickly surpassed $500,000, while protests in Minneapolis showed no sign of ebbing as demonstrators demanded charges against the officers involved and an end to the federal deployment vox +1. With conflicting narratives hardening and critical evidence now frozen by court order, the case is poised to become a major test of whether local and state authorities can meaningfully scrutinize — and potentially prosecute — federal agents accused of excessive force.