Federal officials sought to portray a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday as a domestic terrorist, saying he wanted to “massacre” law enforcement, even as videos emerged that appeared to directly contradict their account.
The man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive-care nurse described by the Minneapolis police chief as a US citizen with no criminal record. Federal officials said he was armed, but there is no sign in videos analysed by The New York Times that he pulled his weapon, or that agents even knew he had one until he was already pinned on the sidewalk.
Bullet after bullet
This is what the videos show, according to a Times analysis:
A small group of protesters stands in the street, speaking to a federal agent as whistles sound. Pretti appears to be filming the scene with his phone and directing traffic.
An agent begins shoving the demonstrators, and squirts pepper spray at their faces.
At this moment, Pretti has both hands clearly visible. One is holding his phone, while he holds the other up to protect himself from pepper spray. He moves to help one of the protesters who was sprayed, as other agents approach and pull him from behind.
Several agents tussle with Pretti before bringing him to his knees. He appears to resist as the agents grab his legs, push down on his back and strike him repeatedly.
The footage shows an agent approaching with empty hands and grabbing at Pretti as the others hold him down.
About eight seconds after he is pinned, agents yell that he has a gun, indicating that they may not have known he was armed until he was on the ground.
The same agent who approached with empty hands pulls a gun from among the group that appears to match the profile of a firearm DHS said belonged to Pretti.
The agents appear to have him under their control, with his arms pinned near his head.
As the gun emerges from the melee, another agent aims his own firearm at Pretti’s back and appears to fire one shot at close range. He then appears to continue firing at Pretti, who collapses.
A third agent unholsters a weapon. Both agents appear to fire additional shots into Pretti as he lies motionless.
In total, at least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds.