Latest on Minneapolis man killed by federal agents

Here's the scene right now of a growing memorial and a vigil for the man shot and killed today by federal immigration officers. 37-year-old Alex Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse. He helped critically ill veterans at the VA hospital. Police say he did have a conceal and carry license. Federal agents shot and killed Pretti about 9:00 this morning near 26 and Nicollet, in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis. There was an altercation and a shooting that was caught on video by several bystanders. And as we've said throughout the day with many of these videos, it can be difficult to watch. We are going to take you through a few angles right now. This is the first video that started circulating on social media this morning. You see an officer swinging at a man on the ground. Several other agents surround the man. There are gunshots, and the man falls to the ground. Here's a different angle-- shows the struggle that happened on the ground. The man we now know as Alex Pretti was fighting with his hands. You will then hear gunshots, and then the agents back away. We have blurred the shot where-- the image where the actual shots are fired, but you'll see here that the man's body is left lying on the road after the agents fire and back off. In this third angle, you can see an agent push a woman. Then the man confronts the agents and gets pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the ground. Struggle on the ground lasts about 20 seconds. At least a half-dozen agents surround him, and then you hear the gunshots. We have team coverage this evening from across the metro for you. We want to begin with Frankie McLister. He's been at the scene all day. Frankie. Yeah, Frank, we got here between 9:30 and 10:00 AM, and it's just been evolving all day long. When we first got here, our crew, me and my photojournalist Ray Campos, there was an immediate standoff with federal agents and community members right at 27th and Nicollet. And also there was another one on the other side, 26th and Nicollet. We're going to show you some video right now of what the scene looked like earlier today. Now the scene, it was definitely a chaotic one. We first saw federal agents with Border Patrol, ICE, and HSI on site. Now, Minnesota State Patrol were also here trying to secure the scene. It was when a community member began throwing snow at agents when chemical irritants began to deploy this morning, now causing that entire congregation to just push back and move the entire crowd. In the meantime there, we spotted a dumpster on fire where other authorities were trying to contain that too. Now, one of many we spoke to said he never used to really protest at all, but came out here today. Knowing that everybody was gathering here, that yeah, besides just doing something about it, I can't really say much else. Making sure everyone stays safe as well. And I know safety works better in numbers a lot of time with these things. If you don't mind just describing the environment for our viewers, what it looks like out here right now and feels like in the air. I mean, it's still scary. A lot of people are at their wits' end and just want ICE to leave. So I want to paint the scene of how we got to what the environment feels like right now. Agents did end up moving out in an entire congregation, leaving this entire area just to State Patrol in Minneapolis. Police all step out of the frame so our photojournalist can show you what you're seeing right now, and that is no law enforcement. What ended up happening-- Minnesota State Patrol ended up moving out of the area as well. Minneapolis Police are the only authority that I can see to my vision, and that is very far away from where we are right now. This is exactly where the shooting occurred this morning, and it seems to me that Minneapolis Police have just an outskirts of the area kind of barricaded to prevent cars from going through these streets. Guys. Frank, you probably can't see it, and you're not aware. But we do understand now that the National Guard is also helping the Minneapolis Police with that perimeter that stretches a few blocks away from there. So if someone sees them, that's why they're there. But thank you for the report. People have gathered in the streets of Whittier all day protesting ICE. And now this latest shooting. Yes, some of those folks are now shifting toward Whittier Park, where another rally is getting underway. Adam Duxter has been out talking with people at that scene, which obviously much louder than the scene we just saw with Frankie. Yeah, Derek. And this program is just getting started here at Whittier Park, and you can see the parallels to what happened today and what happened 2 and 1/2 weeks ago when Renee Goode was shot and killed by ICE, where you have an early morning shooting, chaos throughout the afternoon, and then by the night, a massive vigil. Only this time, it is in subzero temperatures. And I want to give you an idea of the size of the crowd here at Whittier Park. MIRAC, which is a local immigration rights group, they're the ones hosting this. And you can see the signs all over already. People saying-- signs for Justice for Alex Pretti. This is a community that has been rallying and still continuing to come together, not just today, but over the course of the last several months. And what we've heard today is calls for ICE to leave the streets of Minneapolis. Now, earlier today, we were at the scene as well on 26th and Nicollet, and I did have a chance to talk to a business owner there, just important context to remember that this shooting today happened on 8th Street, which is what the city touts as a cultural hub that people can take one another to when you have friends or family in town. I talked to a restaurant owner earlier today, and here's what he had to say. Nicollet Avenue has been that safe place for so long of immigrants, of diverse people coming together for healing, for safety, for comfort. And now it's being violated right here in the heart of the city. But we're doing what we do best-- protect our people, keep our people safe, and remember that Minnesota is one love and one Minnesota. We're leading with compassion. We're leading with community. We're leading with heart. Nobody's going to break the Minnesota one love. And that was the owner of Pimento on Nicollet, right there on 8th Street. But one more time, Frank and Derek, I want you guys to get a scope of the size of this crowd. And it is continuing to grow and fill this entire block. And again, the calls tonight are for ICE to leave. And many people say they are repeating a call for justice just 2 and 1/2 weeks after ICE killed one person in Minneapolis, just on the other side of town. It happened again once more in this community. Yeah, and Adam, I don't think that rally was organized until about two hours ago, which makes the crowd pretty impressive. Thanks for your live report there. The mayor of Minneapolis and the Hennepin County Sheriff have both asked Governor Tim Walz to call out the National Guard for help.

This is some footage earlier showing military vehicles rolling into the Whipple Federal Building to relieve the deputies there. That's where our Conor Wight is live right now. Conor, what else has changed about that scene over the last few hours? The scene itself has remained calm. We've actually gone into one of the public parking lots a little bit further away from the building to show you some of those military vehicles. These are National Guard based on the people that we can see in the front cabins of these trucks. They are in military camouflage with reflective vests. That is what state officials have said will denote National Guardsmen versus other kinds of military or law enforcement. We actually saw someone delivering pizza to those trucks just now. So presumably, the area directly in front of Whipple remains calm at this time as some people continue to show up in the subzero temperatures. Now, it was here at Whipple that Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino provided a press conference, a delayed one, as there was one scheduled prior to the shooting of Alex Pretti. That is the 37-year-old who was shot and killed by a federal agent this morning. Now Bovino, this was then echoed by Secretary Kristi Noem, presented without providing any kind of evidence that Pretti was there to try to harm law enforcement. This is a man who had a permit to carry and legally purchased that weapon, according to sources. Now, bystander video shows that as federal agents approach and pepper spray him, there is no gun in his hand that we can see. Bovino and DHS said that an agent with eight years of Border Patrol experience needed to fire defensively. But when pressed on the videos that contradict his position online, he was quick to deflect, ultimately walking out of today's presser, only answering two questions briefly.

Commander, the videos that are publicly available directly contradict the speculation that you are putting out there at the moment. What comment do you have? Commander, there is no video supporting the way that you are addressing this issue.

Those questions are not addressed. At that time, we were ushered out of the room quickly. And Secretary Noem in a press conference, just in the past hour that we showed you a snippet of, repeating the DHS line of events that he did as well. So clearly, no difference in the version of events coming from the federal government, despite a litany of videos that are now on social media that we are looking into that show different angles that seem to contradict what they're putting out there. Frank. All right, Conor, thank you. Speaking of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem did just speak within the course of the last hour, and she addressed the shooting as well. Here's some of what she had to say a short time ago. But I want you to not distract away from the facts of this situation. Our law enforcement officers were there doing a targeted operation against an individual who was in this country illegally and had a criminal conviction for domestic assault with intent to do bodily harm and other convictions as well. This individual went and impeded their law enforcement operations, attacked those officers, had a weapon on him, and multiple dozens of rounds of ammunition munition wishing to inflict harm on these officers, coming, brandishing like that and impeding their work that they were doing. We have not been able to independently confirm Noem's claims about the weapon or ammunition. Governor Tim Walz spoke out after the shooting as well, along with public safety officials. Walz had strong statements for President Donald Trump and his administration. As I told the White House in no uncertain terms this morning, the federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period. The State Emergency Operations Center in Blaine. Caroline, I know that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension wants to move forward and is an investigation, but I also know they're getting pushback from the feds and no help. Yeah, that's right, Frank. So Drew Evans, the superintendent of the BCA, said that when his agents got to the scene this morning, they were told that they could not access it by the Department of Homeland Security. Then they go and get a signed warrant from a judge that said that they had probable cause. They returned to the scene, and they said they were still denied. Now seeking a warrant for this purpose, to access a scene of a shooting in a public place, is rare, if not unprecedented, in recent memory. We're in uncharted territory here. It's been a long-standing understanding, both with in our state and across the country, that entities like the BCA that conduct 80-plus percent of officer-involved shooting investigations across the United States are asked to do these investigations of federal agents involved in officer-involved shootings. There certainly can be a new process going forward if the federal government would like to do that and federal agencies, but that has not been a discussion that's been had so that we can provide clear understanding to citizens to understand what that process will be. Now this comes, of course, 2 and 1/2 weeks after the shooting of Renee Good. That's when BCA said that they were blocked from accessing evidence in that case. And it's for that reason that the BCA said it was not doing an investigation because they did not have all of the information they would need to meet their standards for what it means to do a BCA investigation. Now, in this case, Evans reiterated that the BCA is moving forward, looking into what happened with its own investigation. But he did admit that it would be quote, "difficult to obtain all of the evidence and information without cooperation." Frank and Derek. Yeah, and that's why he was hoping for some sort of path forward. Thank you, Caroline. Federal officials say Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents after he approached officers with a handgun. Maria Lisignoli joins us now live from the live desk. Maria, at this point, a lot of people have seen a lot of videos that are circulating out there. And they're contradicting that statement. Gun rights attorney Rob Dorr with the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says footage from multiple angles suggests Pretti may have already been disarmed before shots were fired. What was most telling to me is that the video shows that just seconds before the shots were heard being fired, it looks like an agent in a gray jacket is retrieving a firearm that matches the firearm that DHS put out earlier this morning from Mr. Pretti's waist, indicating at least to me that there's a reasonable belief that he was not armed at the time that he was shot.

Let's take a look at one of those videos. In this angle, you can see an agent push a woman. Then the man confronts the agent and gets pepper sprayed. He's wrestled to the ground. There's a struggle that lasts about 20 seconds. At least half a dozen agents surround him. Then you hear the gunshots. It's unclear which of the agents fired. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said police believe Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. Now, Dorr says Minnesota law allows permitted gun owners to carry openly or concealed, and simply being armed near officers is not illegal. If you do decide to exercise your Second Amendment right while you're exercising your First Amendment right, you're going to be receiving enhanced scrutiny. And given the tone and the tensions with law enforcement right now, that's something that persons should factor into their decision-making process. Dorr says unless an officer asks if you're carrying, you don't have to inform them ahead of time. But he warns that exercising gun rights in tense situations can draw heightened scrutiny, especially during protests or federal enforcement operations. All right, Maria Lisignoli at the live desk. Thank you. As people continue to gather in the streets protesting the shooting death of a man by Border Patrol, the city of Minneapolis is urging calm and deescalation. That's the message being delivered to protesters and federal officials. Esme Murphy is live at Minneapolis City Hall. Esme. We just heard a press conference from Mayor Frey and also US senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar also on hand, Representative Betty McCollum. And also, we also heard from Representative Betty McCollum and Kelly Morrison. What we heard these representatives say is that they are wanting the Trump administration to take ICE out of Minneapolis. It was an impassioned plea from all these representatives, and they want this to end immediately. Mayor Jacob Frey also made that plea. Peace is not spraying irritants and chemicals at peaceful protesters. It's not detaining a five-year-old. It's not dragging a pregnant woman through the streets. You achieve peace by working directly with communities. You lower crime by strategically going after people that have committed it. The vice president said he would love to be able to send some of these agents home. You know, there's no disagreement there. We've been encouraging that for weeks. You heard me say it two weeks ago, and I've been saying it every single day since. If you're looking for an antidote to many of the issues that we have faced over the last several weeks, there's a very easy answer. And it's for this huge influx of federal agents, ICE and Border control, to go home. And we can tell you that the representatives who spoke here and also Mayor Fry, as you heard there, made the impassioned plea not just for the president and the White House and the administration to pull back on ICE. They also made an impassioned plea specifically to Republicans across the country and specifically members of the Republican Minnesota delegation to appeal to the White House to end this. That is something that we have not heard before, but we're definitely hearing that today. Live from Minneapolis City Hall. Back to you. All right. Thank you, Esme. As we've seen, the protests are still happening in parts of the metro this evening. And more are planned for later. Mike Max is in Minneapolis right now. Max, where are you, and what's happening? About a block away from the incident right now, there's a-- right now, it's not really a protest as much as it is a rally, I would say. Up front, they're banging a drum, and they're yelling out sometimes with a megaphone. And they've got the attention of a crowd that's kind of been coming and going. Now people want to be a part of the movement. They come down here for a while. Then they go home. They see what they want to see. Then they go home. They've certainly got them fired up right now, though. But it's not as big a crowd as we saw about an hour ago-- maybe because the night's about to fall. This is the tale of the day, though. You can see this. This was the impromptu put up barricades so that vehicles couldn't get through. That was earlier today when we were out here. Now, if you come around here, you see Minnesota, I guess, over here because there's not a lot of stores open, impromptu coffee-- free coffee for people, a couple storefronts to put that up so that people can come out here and feel comfortable as best you can on a day like this. And then down the way, you can see the barricades and the dumpsters so that you can't get traffic through here. And there's a bit of a perimeter put in place by the people and the protesters out here today. The bigger perimeter that we saw was when we came out here today. Minneapolis Police is out-- oh, probably five or six blocks in each direction, checking and not letting cars through. So this could go on for a while, but as nightfall sets in, it feels a little bit different, maybe because it's getting a little bit colder. But I think a lot of people just want to be a part of this, just want to observe history, and see what's going on down here and show their support. Makes sense. Michael, thank you. The man a Border Patrol agent shot and killed was a 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked at the VA. Before moving here, Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, where he played football, baseball, and was a Boy Scout. Ubah Ali is live near his home in South Minneapolis with what we're learning about him. Ubah. Yeah, as you can imagine, neighbors are completely heartbroken, still shocked to learn that their neighbor, 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who lived here, was shot and killed by that Border Patrol agent. They say the 37-year-old lived here for about three years. He was a Minneapolis resident and a US citizen, and we're starting to learn a little bit more about him by way of his parents. They tell the Associated Press that he worked as an intensive care nurse at the VA. Born in Illinois, raised in Wisconsin, his parents describe him as an avid outdoorsman. You can see him here hiking and biking. They say Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry. We looked into his criminal record and found three minor traffic tickets. In a statement, his father told the Associated Press, quote, "he cared about people deeply, and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset," end quote. In another statement, his neighbor of three years, said Alex had a dog who passed away in the past year or so. She said, quote, "I remember how sweet he was with his dog, and he was-- the dog was more elderly and less mobile. He'd be willing to carry him down to the yard to get some fresh air and to enjoy the outdoors. His dog would lay down, and Alex would just sit with him and pet him for long periods of time. He was caring. You could tell we were all heartbroken and praying for his family and friends and for justice for him." His mother says he cared a lot about the direction the country was going, saying he was really upset about the Trump administration's rollback of environmental regulations. And that's just a few things we've been able to learn about Alex Pretti, and we'll continue to speak to his neighbors, try to get in contact with his family members, and as people continue to ask questions, we'll try to fill in the blanks on who he was. Back to you guys in the studio. OK, Ubah, thank you.