Video contradicts Trump’s claim man killed in Minneapolis was a ‘gunman’ | Minneapolis

Video captured by witnesses of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday shows the 37-year-old registered nurse holding a phone, not a gun, when she was tackled; This directly contradicts claims by senior Trump administration officials that he threatened to “massacre” officers.

Following the murder recorded by multiple witnesses, the Department of Homeland Security released an image of a gun that Donald Trump called “the gunman’s gun.” a social media post. DHS secretary Kristi Noem said at a briefing that Pretti “approached U.S. border patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun,” but later declined to say whether Pretti pulled the gun.

Greg Bovino, a veteran border patrol commander who was reprimanded by a federal judge last year for lying, also told reporters that Pretti approached border patrol agents with the same gun.

“Agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted. Fearing for his and other officers’ lives and safety, a Border Patrol agent opened defensive fire,” Bovino said. “This sounds like a situation where an individual wants to inflict maximum damage and decimate law enforcement.”

This statement is directly contradicted by video evidence of the incident reviewed by the Guardian.

Although Pretti was legally licensed to carry a gun, it is unclear whether he had a gun on him at the time of the incident, and the videos do not show him having a gun.

In video provided to the Guardian by a Minneapolis resident who walked past the scene at 8:58 a.m. local time, Pretti was seen standing in the street, holding his phone, before an officer reached out and pushed him as a group of observers recorded video on the phones of federal officers on Nicollet Avenue in South Minneapolis. Pretti stepped back, but the officer was seen continuing to record himself doing so.

The exact time of the shooting has not yet been determined, but it was only a few minutes later because Minneapolis police were alerted to the shooting at 9:03 a.m., according to city police Chief Brian O’Hara.

Video recorded by another witness standing behind Pretti Obtained by Drop Site NewsIt showed Pretti continuing to record the immigration enforcement operation on his phone, while other observers blew whistles and honked their horns and directed traffic so cars could pass the scene.

The same clip showed Pretti stepping in to defend another observer who was pushed to the ground by a federal officer. This officer repeatedly sprayed Pretti with chemicals before throwing him into the street with two other agents.

In a scene recorded by at least two other witnesses – one further down the street, they recorded the footage. Obtained by Associated Pressand another with a video inside the Glam Doll Donuts across the street Posted on Facebook – seven agents quickly surrounded Pretti. As they tackled him to the ground and shot him, a police officer in jeans and a gray jacket reached around Pretti’s waist and walked away with what appeared to be a gun.

Less than a second later, another agent drew his gun and fired at Pretti at close range. As the agents retreated, another officer pointed a gun at Pretti and 10 more shots were fired.

As independent journalist Eoin Higgins pointed outVideo of the shooting recorded from the donut shop across the street shows that agents may have opened fire on Pretti immediately after disarming the gun, which he was legally allowed to carry but did not brandish at any point during the encounter.

Even though publicly available video evidence clearly shows that federal agents killed an observer who was merely recording their activities on his phone, Homeland Security Secretary Noem stuck to the administration’s story. at the briefingIt was originally planned to discuss the winter storm on Saturday evening.

After Noem referred to Pretti as ‘armed suspect’ added observable false claim that he “brandished” the gun when he approached federal agents.

“This looks like a situation where an individual came to the scene to inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement,” Noem said.

In a statement to local news Square 11, Pretti’s parents said they were “heartbroken but also very angry.”

“The sickening lies told by the administration about our son are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex clearly did not hold a gun when he was attacked by Trump’s murderous and cowardly ICE thugs,” they said. “He has his phone in his right hand, and his free left hand is raised above his head as he tries to protect the woman he pushed down while she was pepper-sprayed by ICE.

“Please reveal the truth about our son. He was a good man.”

Late Saturday, two witnesses to the shooting, a doctor who watched the incident from their nearby apartment and the woman who recorded the video right behind Pretti, denied that Pretti was holding a gun in affidavits filed in federal court as part of an ongoing ACLU lawsuit over the federal deployment.

The doctor, who was sentenced to perjury, said: “I did not see him attack the agents or use any weapon.”

“The man did not approach the agents with a gun,” the woman said in her statement. “He approached them with a camera.”