Video shows Alex Pretti being shot by Border Patrol agents
Bystander video shows Alex Preti being shot and killed by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.
In the age of smartphones, people may not need to believe what federal officials, journalists, or anyone else says.
They can see for themselves what happened.
The six citizen videos documenting the shooting death of Alex Preti on the freezing streets of Minneapolis on January 24 could be a pivotal point for President Donald Trump, the deployment of thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents to the streets of American cities, and the debate over the constitutional right to protest.
The images, taken from a variety of angles, some shaky and some just seconds long, can be pieced together to paint a picture of events that are at odds with the version given by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other senior administration officials.
“Your eyes don’t lie,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The contrast between Mr. Noem’s claims and what millions of Americans saw means that last weekend could be a key juncture that pressures the president to change course or pay a political price, emboldening his critics in Congress to confront him.
That already threatens a fragile agreement in which the Senate would approve a bipartisan spending package that includes $10 billion for ICE. Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that “we cannot vote for a bill that includes funding for ICE in these circumstances,” which could result in a partial government shutdown as early as Friday.
Even Rep. James Comer, an ardent Republican from Kentucky who chairs the House Oversight Committee, suggested on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that President Trump remove ICE agents from Minneapolis and send them elsewhere if “more innocent lives and so on could be lost.” Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy called for a “full joint federal and state investigation” into the shooting in a statement.
And protests took place in the streets not only in Minneapolis but also in cities from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles.
It could also affect Republican congressional candidates in battleground districts in November. Midterm elections often double as referendums on the White House, setting the stage for the final two years of a president’s term.
Collision, followed by 10 gunshots
Nomu said this at a press conference hours after the shooting.
“An individual approached a U.S. Border Patrol agent with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun,” she told reporters. “Officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently,” she said. “It appears to be a situation where an individual arrives on scene to cause maximum damage and kill law enforcement.”
But for many others, that wasn’t the case.
The video shows Preti, a 37-year-old VA ICU nurse, brandishing a cell phone rather than a gun, recording the scene of the protest, and attempting to help a woman who fell to the ground after being sprayed with a chemical agent. He was confronted by Border Patrol agents, forced to his knees, and then forced to the ground surrounded by armed men in tactical gear.
Only then did they appear to realize he had a gun, which they discovered was registered and could be legally possessed. A frame-by-frame review showed that the first of the 10 shots was fired at Preeti, and the weapon was seized by investigators seconds before Preeti died before the first medics arrived on the scene.
Americans tend to support President Trump’s strengthening of the border with Mexico and his promise to deport violent criminals who are in the country illegally. From the beginning of his political career, immigration has been one of the animating issues for his supporters and a source of strength in their evaluation of his presidency.
But even before Pretty was shot, nearly two-thirds of Americans were dissatisfied with the way ICE was doing its job. A New York Times/Siena College poll found that 6 in 10 voters, including 70% of nonpartisan voters who typically decide elections, said authorities’ tactics had gone “too far.”
Earlier this month, Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed in Minneapolis by ICE agents who opened fire on her car, and another incident was also captured on a smartphone. Another video that went viral shows a 5-year-old boy wearing a winter hat with bunny ears being detained by investigators. Another photo showed an elderly man stripped to his underwear being pulled from his home and loaded into a government SUV.
The man, a Hmong refugee, was later naturalized in the United States, but investigators determined he was not the person they were looking for and was returned to his home.
echo of george floyd
There are echoes of George Floyd here.
Six years and miles later, Floyd, a black man, was killed by a white police officer after he was arrested for using counterfeit money at a local store. The officer knelt on Floyd’s neck and back for more than nine minutes, suffocating him.
Cellphone videos have since sparked protests across the United States.
That was in May 2020. The episode may have received special attention at the time, with millions of Americans confined to their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Preti’s death came as millions of Americans were trapped in their homes by a severe weekend snowstorm.
The ensuing firestorm carries some risk for Democrats, just as efforts to enact DEI policies aimed at diversity, equity, and inclusion in the wake of Floyd’s death generated discontent that President Trump exploited.
The slogan “defund the police” at the time was used by Republicans, including those who did not support the idea, to paint Democrats as soft on law and order. Some progressives are currently calling for the abolition of ICE.
But for now, Trump faces a bigger political crisis.
Let’s go to the video.
