BBC identifies Alex Pretti as man attacking ICE vehicle in newly-surfaced video

New video footage shows a Minneapolis nurse who was fatally shot in a scuffle with Border Patrol agents last Saturday involved in a separate altercation just days before the shooting.

Alex Pretti, 37, who was armed with a SIG Sauer P320 and two loaded magazines, was part of a coordinated group of activists working to impede U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents during immigration enforcement operations in the Twin Cities. He was killed Jan. 24 during an altercation.

Pretti, a nurse with the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, was seen in bystander video footage holding a phone before being pushed, tackled by multiple agents, and shot approximately 10 times in under five seconds last Saturday. 

A new video clip verified by the BBC appears to show Pretti involved in a separate altercation with authorities, this time on Jan. 13, 11 days before he was fatally shot by Border Patrol officers.

The video shows a man matching Pretti's description shouting abuse at agents, appearing to spit toward their Ford SUV, kicking the vehicle's right taillight twice before shattering it and making an obscene gesture in the vehicle’s direction. An agent then exits the vehicle, grabs the man, and forces him to the ground amid a scuffle involving multiple officers. Tear gas and pepper balls are deployed into the crowd, and a handgun is visible in the man's waistband above his belt line before he walks away after agents retreat.

According to the BBC’s analysis, facial recognition tools suggested a 97% match with Pretti. A family spokesperson confirmed to outlets including the BBC, CNN and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the individual seen in the video is, in fact, Pretti. 

The video was originally shared by The News Movement, which later said its team was “filming a documentary about ICE activity in Minneapolis when we received a tip that federal agents were blocking a street, and captured this footage.”

Pretti’s family, meanwhile, has retained a former federal prosecutor involved in the murder case against Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who knelt on the neck of George Floyd in 2020. 

Steve Schleicher, who served as a special prosecutor for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in Chauvin’s 2021 trial, is representing Michael and Susan Pretti pro bono, according to The Associated Press.

A former state prosecutor under Ellison who handled cases ranging from murder to organized crime, racketeering and federal civil rights violations, Schleicher also served as a reserve officer in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps.

Micayla Pretti, the victim’s younger sister, has also retained attorney Anthony Cotton of Kuchler & Cotton in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Pretti’s death occurred just days after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good as she hit him while driving her Honda Pilot. Good had been using her vehicle to block traffic on Jan. 7 and refused an agent's request to exit her vehicle. Her death spurred more anti-ICE protests nationwide. 

While the Trump administration argued that the ICE agent shot Good in self-defense, critics have claimed that Good was trying to pull away from agents, despite hitting one in the process, and that lethal force was not justified.