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WASHINGTON – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has taken over the investigation into the shooting death of Alex Pretti, a resident of Minneapolis, who was fatally shot by Border Patrol officers on Saturday. This development was confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday.
The change in leadership of the investigation was first revealed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during an interview with Fox News on Thursday evening. Initially, Homeland Security Investigations, a division within the DHS, was tasked with handling the investigation.
In her conversation with Fox host Sean Hannity, Noem stated, “We will continue to follow the investigation that the FBI is leading and provide them with all necessary information to ensure a thorough conclusion. It is crucial that the American people receive the truth regarding this situation, so we can move forward while maintaining protection for the public.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Homeland Security, confirmed on Friday that the FBI will now spearhead the investigation into Pretti’s death, with support from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Concurrently, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a branch of DHS, is conducting an internal review of the incident where two officers discharged their weapons at Pretti.
Despite the confirmed shift in investigative leadership, DHS has not provided details on the timing or reasons for this change. The FBI has also yet to offer any comments on the matter.
It was also not immediately clear whether the FBI would now share information and evidence with Minnesota state investigators, who have thus far been frozen out of the federal probe.
In the same interview, Noem appeared to distance herself from statements she made shortly after the shooting, claiming Pretti had brandished a handgun and aggressively approached officers.
Multiple videos that emerged of the shooting contradicted that claim, showing the intensive care nurse had only his mobile phone in his hand as officers tackled him to the ground, with one removing a handgun from the back of Pretti’s pants as another officer began firing shots into his back.
Pretti had a state permit to legally carry a concealed firearm. At no point did he appear to reach for it, the videos showed.
“I know you realize that situation was very chaotic, and that we were being relayed information from on the ground from CBP agents and officers that were there,” Noem said during the interview with Hannity on Thursday. “We were using the best information we had at the time, seeking to be transparent with the American people and get them what we knew to be true on the ground.”
The change comes after two other videos emerged Wednesday of an earlier altercation between Pretti and federal immigration officers 11 days before his death.
The Jan. 13 videos show Pretti in a winter coat, yelling at federal vehicles and at one point appearing to spit before kicking out the taillight of one vehicle. A struggle ensues between Pretti and several officers, during which he is forced to the ground. Pretti’s winter coat comes off, and he either breaks free or the officers let him go and he scurries away.
When he turns his back to the camera, what appears to be a handgun is visible in his waistband. At no point do the videos show Pretti reaching for the gun, and it is not clear whether federal agents saw it.
Steve Schleicher, a Minneapolis-based attorney representing Pretti’s parents, said Wednesday the earlier altercation in no way justified officers fatally shooting Pretti more than a week later.
In a post on his Truth Social platform early Friday morning, President Donald Trump suggested that the videos of the earlier incident undercut the narrative that Pretti was a peaceful protester when he was shot.
“Agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist, Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces,” Trump’s post said. “It was quite a display of abuse and anger, for all to see, crazed and out of control. The ICE Officer was calm and cool, not an easy thing to be under those circumstances!”
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Associated Press reporters Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.
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