Videos emerging this week show Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse fatally shot by federal agents, engaging in hostile actions toward U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel during a protest 11 days before his death, including yelling profanities, spitting at an agent, and kicking out the taillight of an ICE SUV, according to reports from CNN and the Santa Monica Observer.
The January 13 footage, verified by Pretti's family representatives to CNN, depicts him shouting at agents near their vehicles, spitting as one enters an SUV, and twice kicking the rear, shattering the light. Agents then tackled him, but he was not arrested.
Pretti was killed on January 24 during an immigration enforcement operation amid the Trump administration's crackdown in Minnesota, marking the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by federal agents that month, following Renee Good's death on January 7, as detailed by The New York Times and Time magazine.
Bystander videos analyzed by The New York Times, CNN, and the Associated Press show Pretti holding a phone and aiding a woman shoved by agents when he was pepper-sprayed, tackled, and disarmed of his legally permitted handgun before being shot 10 times, including after lying motionless.
Federal officials claimed self-defense, labeling him aggressive and a "domestic terrorist," but footage contradicts this, per Global News and Vox.
The incident has sparked protests, bipartisan outrage, and calls for independent probes. President Trump told The New York Times he is reviewing the case and considering de-escalation.
Pretti's family described him as a "kindhearted soul" dedicated to veterans, rejecting official narratives as lies, according to BBC and PBS reports.