Kamal Ghorui
A preliminary Department of Homeland Security report sent to Congress reveals that two federal officers fired their weapons during the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on January 24, according to notices obtained by multiple news outlets. Both the agents were placed on administrative leave, according to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. MS Now was first to report that detail, NBC news reported.The preliminary report, from a Customs and Border Protection internal investigation led by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility, was sent to congressional committees Tuesday, including the House Homeland Security and Judiciary committees, according to three sources.The DHS report said that during the encounter January 24, an officer yelled “He’s got a gun!” multiple times and then “approximately five seconds later a BPA [Border Patrol agent] discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a CBPO [Customs and Border Protection officer] also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.”It was unclear from the report whether the bullets from both officers’ guns hit Pretti.The report also did not make any mention of Pretti attacking officers or brandishing a gun, as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed in the aftermath of the shooting.Multiple videos recorded by eyewitnesses that were verified and analysed by NBC News showed Pretti did not hold a weapon during the struggle as he was surrounded by agents. One video showed that a federal agent removed a gun from Pretti’s waist area just before he was shot.The report said that after the shooting, a Border Patrol agent said he had possession of Pretti’s gun, which was then secured in his vehicle.A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to refrain from “destroying or altering evidence” Sunday, after state investigators were denied access to the crime scene.The report said its findings were based on CBP documents and body-camera from officers on the scene.It said that officers were “conducting enforcement actions” in Minneapolis on Saturday morning as part of Operation Metro Surge, near the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and 25th Street.The operation saw some 3,000 federal officers and agents deployed to Minnesota, while the Minneapolis Police Department had just 600 officers, as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on migrant communities and what federal officials said was an attempt to stamp out local corruption and fraud.The surge was met with strong local opposition and protests, particularly after a local woman, Renee Good, was shot dead by an immigration officer while at the wheel of her car January 7.“Several civilians were in the area yelling and blowing whistles. BPAs and CBPOs made several verbal requests for the civilians to stay on the sidewalks and out of the roadway,” the report into Pretti’s death said.An officer was then “confronted” by two women blowing whistles who failed to comply with an order to move out of the road, according to the report. After the officer pushed them both away, it said, one of them ran to a man the report identified as Pretti.The officer continued to attempt to move the woman and Pretti out of the road before using his pepper spray on them both, the report said.“CBP personnel attempted to take Pretti into custody. Pretti resisted CBP personnel’s efforts and a struggle ensued. During the struggle, a BPA yelled, ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times,” the report said.Approximately five seconds later, a Border Patrol agent and a CBP officer both fired shots at Pretti, according to the report.At 9:02 a.m., CBP staff cut Pretti’s clothes and provided first aid including placing chest seals on his wounds, before fire department medics arrived two minutes later, the report said.He was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center at approximately 9:32 a.m.
