New footage has emerged showing Alex Pretti interacting with immigration authorities in Minneapolis more than a week before the 37-year-old ICU nurse was shot and killed by federal law enforcement.
A Jan. 13 video provided by The News Movement, a media outlet geared to Generation Z, shows a man who appears to be Pretti shouting at a federal officer before the officer walked back to his SUV.
As the vehicle began to drive away, Pretti kicked it twice, shattering the taillight on the second kick.
"Our footage was analyzed by the BBC, whose facial recognition technology confirmed his identity to a 97% degree of accuracy," the video's narrator said.
The narrator said that on the morning of Jan. 13, the outlet received a tip that federal agents were blocking traffic at East 36th Street and Park Avenue in Minneapolis.
The team arrived about 10:15 a.m. local time and saw people shouting at agents as they walked back to their vehicles.
"When they started driving away, the man kicked their taillight," the narrator said, referring to Pretti. "An agent then got out of the vehicle, grabbed him, and pushed him to the ground.
"During the altercation, agents fired tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd. They continued to hold the man down before they retreated and he walked away.
"The man in our footage is wearing a similar outfit to what Pretti was wearing on the day he was killed, and what appears to be a gun is visible above his waistband," the narrator continued.
Other bystander video obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune shows what happened moments later from another angle.
A spokesperson for Pretti's family and the family's attorney confirmed to the newspaper that the man in the footage was Pretti.
The video shows an officer exiting the SUV and tackling Pretti to the pavement as other agents moved in. Onlookers can be heard yelling as agents deploy pepper balls and smoke to push the crowd back.
Pretti eventually slipped out of his coat and ran away. Officers left shortly afterward without arresting him.
"He got slammed to the ground pretty hard," Max Shapiro, a witness who filmed the interaction, told the Star Tribune.
Pretti's apparent role in the incident aligns with what family and friends have described in the aftermath of his death on Jan. 24, that he was protesting federal immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis.
According to a Department of Homeland Security review, Customs and Border Protection officers attempted to detain Pretti after he refused to get out of the street.
Pretti, who authorities say was carrying a loaded Sig Sauer pistol, "resisted," and during the scuffle a Border Patrol agent was heard shouting, "He's got a gun!"
Moments later, a Border Patrol agent fired his handgun at Pretti, and another officer fired as well. Video footage showed at least 10 shots went off.
DHS officials said it is not known whether Pretti's weapon discharged in the encounter.
Two Border Patrol officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave.
Pretti's death has become a flash point in Minneapolis and nationally, intensifying protests against federal immigration operations.
It was the second shooting death of a protester by federal law enforcement this month.
Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer after authorities said she tried to strike the officer with the vehicle she was driving.
Others, however, dispute this account of events.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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