The shooting of Alex Pretti comes just weeks after the shooting of Renee Nicole Good, both by federal agents in Minneapolis.
A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement National Security prosecutor has walked Newsweek through the events of Alex Jeffrey Pretti's shooting, noting the possible missteps ICE officers took that led to the fatal shooting.
“The tragic shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an American citizen, is a case study in what happens when we put federal agents in civilian situations without proper training or expectations of accountability,“ Javad M. Khazaeli, Founding Partner at Khazaeli Wyrsch, LLC, former ICE National Security prosecutor, and board member of Immigrants’ List, told Newsweek. Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security by email outside of normal business hours on Sunday afternoon for comment. Why It Matters The fatal shooting of Pretti just weeks after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good—both aged 37, both residents of Minneapolis—highlights the rapidly escalating tension in the city, which has quickly become a major focus of the Trump administration due to allegations of widespread federal fraud and abuse in addition to the ongoing deportation operation the administration is carrying out. In both the Pretti and Good shootings, conflicting narratives have come from federal and state officials, and video footage taken by bystanders at both incidents has sparked questions and criticism. Bureau of Criminal Apprehension police officers survey the scene near a makeshift memorial in the area where Alex Pretti was shot dead a day earlier by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25, 2026. What To Know In a statement on Saturday, the DHS said a suspect approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but they “violently resisted,“ prompting an agent to fire defensive shots. State officials, however, dispute that account, especially as further video surfaces, including one which clearly shows Pretti holding his phone in one hand while holding his other hand, empty, above his head before the agents descend on him. “The vast majority of agents on the ground in Minneapolis right now are either brand new hires, or are Customs and Border Protection agents that spent their career checking passports,“ Khazaeli said. “They are not trained to operate in a civilian area, particularly in a high-stakes crowd setting like we are seeing in Minneapolis,“ he continued. “After the Renee Goode shooting, the Trump DOJ has been clear—it will not investigate when immigration officers kill citizens.“ “Untrained armed officers who know they will not be held accountable will inevitably use excessive force and kill people,“ Khazaeli added. A photograph of the pistol recovered by immigration agents after a shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday morning is shown on a screen behind U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem as she speaks during a news conference in the National Response Coordination Center at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters on January 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images Video Analysis of the Pretti Shooting A video uploaded to social media of the shooting shows what appears to be a group of federal agents struggling with a person, later identified as Pretti, before multiple agents are seen trying to pull that person down to the ground. Then, shots are heard being fired, and the person that the agents were seen trying to subdue lies motionless while a person videoing the scene is heard saying, “They killed that guy! Did they f***ing kill that guy?“ “Properly trained officers do not resort to a multi-officer beatdown like we see in this video,“ Khazaeli said. “At that point, there is no question that they were not trying to take Mr. Pretti safely into custody; the officers are simply beating him in retaliation.“ “We do not know yet what caused the first shot,“ he notes, adding, “It is clear from the videos, however, that Mr. Pretti immediately went down and stopped moving after the first shot.“ “Then there is a pause followed by multiple shots at a person who was already incapacitated and was not a threat—that is the definition of excessive force,“ Khazaeli said. What People Are Saying Republican Senator Bill Cassidy has called for a full investigation, writing on X: “The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.“ President Donald Trump on Truth Social, in part: “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?…The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection,“ he wrote while sharing an image he said showed “the gunman’s gun.“ Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on X: “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.“ DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement to the press, in part: “This violence is directly fueled by hateful rhetoric from Minnesota's sanctuary politicians. It must end now.“
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