Alex Pretti shot dead in Minneapolis: Family says ‘sickening lies’ being told by Trump admn — 10 points

The death of Alex Pretti in the latest crackdown by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis on Saturday has been widely denounced even as the Trump administration quickly claimed that Pretti had intended to harm the federal agents.

Pretti's death is the second in Minneapolis this month — after the killing of Renee Good — by federal agents. The recent incident sparked new protests and impassioned demands by local leaders for the Trump administration to end its operation in the city.

A video of the incident showed federal officials pinning Pretti down to the ground and shooting him multiple times.

2. Pretti was a US citizen and was born in Illinois. As per the Associated Press, court documents showed he had no criminal record, and his family said his only contact with the police had been a few traffic tickets.

3. A video of the federal agents taking down Pretti was widely circulated on social media. Several US media reports claimed that the video contradicted the US government's claim that Pretti was holding a gun.

In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon. Police Chief Brian O'Hara said police believe he was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

Many also claimed that Alex Pretti “was trying to help a woman off the ground.”

According to Reuters, as the videos begin, Pretti can be seen filming as a federal agent pushes away one woman and shoves another woman to the ground.

Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself as the agent pepper sprays him.

Several agents then take hold of Pretti - who struggles with them - and force him onto his hands and knees. As the agents pin down Pretti, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about the presence of a gun.

Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a gun from Pretti and stepping away from the group with it.

Moments later, an officer with a handgun pointed at Pretti's back fires four shots at him in quick succession, footage shows. Several more shots can then be heard as another agent appears to fire at Pretti.

4. The shooting of Pretti drew hundreds of protesters to the neighborhood to confront the armed and masked agents, who deployed tear gas and flashbang grenades.

Demonstrations also broke out in New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco, among other cities, Reuters reported.

An angry crowd gathered and protesters clashed with federal officers, who wielded batons and deployed flash bangs. "The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police at the direction of Gov. Tim Walz," officials told Reuters.

Guard troops were sent to both the shooting site and a federal building where officers have squared off with demonstrators daily.

5. The US Homeland Security said law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an "illegal alien wanted for violent assault" when "an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun."

The department claimed that federal agents "fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers," fired defensive shots. "

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said a briefing, "He was there to perpetuate violence," while White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to Pretti as an “would-be-assassin.”

6. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the shooting "horrific" and demanded state authorities lead the investigation. "The federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period," Walz told a news conference.

7. US President Donald Trump weighed in on social media by lashing out at Walz and the Minneapolis mayor.

He shared images of the gun that immigration officials said was recovered and said: “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren't they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”

Trump, a Republican, said the Democratic governor and mayor are “are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric.”

8. The family of Alex Pretti provided a statement to the CNN, saying, "We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital."

"Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman," the statement read.

It also highlighted "sickening lies told about our son by the administration" and called them "reprehensible and disgusting."

"Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed," the statement read, as per the CNN.

9. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer vowed to block a massive spending package next week unless Republicans strip funding for the Department of Homeland Security, dramatically increasing the risk for a partial US government shutdown.

Democratic opposition to the funding package potentially affects not just Homeland Security but also the departments of Defense, Labor, Education, State, Treasury and Health and Human Services, Bloomberg reported.

10. Hollywood stars used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to denounce the killing of an American protester who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.

Actress Olivia Wilde, who was in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of "The Invite," said the death of a second protester in just three weeks at the hands of federal agents was "unfathomable."

"I can't believe that we're watching people get murdered in the street," she told AFP.

"These brave Americans who have stepped out to protest the injustice of these ICE quote/unquote 'officers,' and watching them be murdered -- it's unfathomable. We cannot normalize it."

(With inputs from Reuters, Associated Press, AFP)