Alex Pretti Shooting: Federal Agent’s Actions Spark Outrage

A video of the moment Alex Pretti was shot and killed shows a Department of Homeland Security member clapping nearby – Pretti’s family has described his death as a ‘murder’

A video widely circulated on social media appears to show a member of the US’ Department of Homeland Security clapping moments after protester Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed in Minneapolis.

The officer can be seen wearing a police vest over a black hoodie. Before he reached the group where Pretti was pinned by a group of Border Patrol agents, a shot rang out and the agent stopped.

Several more shots followed in quick succession, according to the footage. As a Border Patrol agent continued firing, the officer shown in the video stepped back, clapped his hands three times, then turned and walked away.

Another video posted to social media appears to show a different federal agent disarming Pretti shortly before he was killed. The agent, who appeared to have nothing in his hands, reached into the group of officers restraining Pretti. After reaching toward Pretti’s lower back, where a firearm was allegedly holstered, the agent stood up and ran away holding what looked like a gun in his right hand. It is unclear whether the weapon was Pretti’s nine-millimeter semi-automatic handgun, which police said he legally owned. Moments later, the first gunshot was heard.

Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said during a Saturday press conference that agents were attempting to arrest Jose Huerta-Chuma, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, when Pretti intervened.

The death of Pretti, 37, sparked further protests in Minneapolis and outrage online. Trump administration officials were quick to cast Pretti as the instigator. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was among those who said Pretti “approached” immigration officers with a gun and acted violently. Videos from the scene show Pretti being pushed by an officer and then a half-dozen agents descend on him. During the scuffle, he is holding a phone but is never seen brandishing the 9mm semiautomatic handgun police say he was licensed to carry.

Pretti’s family described his death as a “murder” later that night. They accused the Trump administration of spreading what they called “sickening lies” about their relative and branded the White House “reprehensible and disgusting.”

The killing comes at a sensitive moment for the GOP as the party prepares for a challenging midterm election year. Trump has fomented a sense of chaos on the world stage, bringing the NATO alliance to the brink last week. Domestically, Trump has struggled to respond to widespread affordability concerns.

Meanwhile, approval of his handling of immigration — long a political asset for the president and the GOP — has tumbled. Just 38 percent of US adults approved of how Trump was handling immigration in January, down from 49 percent in March, according to an AP-NORC poll.

The killing spurred notable tension with the GOP’s long-standing support for gun rights. Officials say Pretti was armed, but no bystander videos that have surfaced so far appear to show him holding a weapon. The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.

Yet administration officials, including Noem and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have questioned why he was armed. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” Bessent said that when he has attended protests, “I didn’t bring a gun. I brought a billboard.”

Such comments were notable for a party where support for the Second Amendment’s protection of gun ownership is foundational. Indeed, many in the GOP, including Trump, lifted Kyle Rittenhouse into prominence when the then-17-year-old former police youth cadet shot three men, killing two of them, during a 2020 protest in Wisconsin against police brutality. He was acquitted of all charges after testifying that he acted in self defense.

In the wake of Pretti’s killing, gun rights advocates noted that it is legal to carry firearms during protests.

“Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights,” the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”