The Trump administration has been attempting to cast the man fatally shot by Border Patrol agents on Saturday in Minneapolis as a "domestic terrorist." Those close to him — and video footage of the fatal encounter — paint a very different picture of the 37-year-old intensive-care unit nurse.
Here's what we know so far about Alex Jeffrey Pretti and the confrontation that led to his death.
Alex Pretti shooting
The Department of Homeland Security claimed the shooting occurred after officers "attempted to disarm" Pretti, who they say "violently resisted." But videos taken by bystanders contradict that account.
Videos show that Pretti was holding a phone and appeared to be filming when one of the agents began shoving a demonstrator. Pretti attempted to intervene when he and others were pepper sprayed and several agents tackled him. He was pinned to the ground when a federal officer pulled a handgun away from him. Less than a second later, an agent fired at Pretti, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“I have read the statement from D.H.S. about what happened and it is wrong,” a witness said in a sworn statement submitted Saturday. “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground."
Brian O'Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, said at a news conference that investigators believe at least two agents opened fire as Pretti laid still. It appears at least 10 shots were fired at Pretti within five seconds.
Pretti had no criminal record and had a permit to carry a handgun, officials said.
Who was Alex Pretti?
Pretti, a U.S. citizen, was a registered nurse who worked in an intensive-care unit at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis.
His colleagues described him as kind, competent, and the kind of person who took his job caring for his patients seriously.
"He really thrived in that environment," Ruth Anway, a nurse who worked with Pretti, told the New York Times. "He wanted to be helpful, to help humanity, and have a career that was a force of good in the world."
Pretti was born in Illinois and grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he was a Boy Scout and sang in the local choir, the Associated Press reports. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2011 and worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a nurse.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed — without providing further evidence — that Pretti "arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement." In response, Pretti's parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, released a statement to "get the truth out about our son."
"Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends," they wrote. "The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting."
