Armed Man Assaults Agents, Released—Then Shot Dead

Handgun with ammunition, magazine, and rifle on wooden table.

A newly released video shows that an armed agitator who died in a confrontation with federal agents had violently assaulted those same officers just eleven days earlier—and walked away without arrest, a decision that may have sealed his fate.

Story Snapshot

Alex Pretti spat at federal agents, kicked their vehicle, and was tackled on January 13 but released without charges despite visible aggression and carrying a firearm
The 37-year-old ICU nurse was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents on January 24 during another protest confrontation where he was armed with the same 9mm pistol
New video footage contradicts DHS claims that Pretti posed an imminent mass casualty threat, showing no weapon drawn during the altercation
Federal agents face criticism from use-of-force experts who say their tactics were excessively violent while simultaneously too lenient in enforcement

When Restraint Becomes Recklessness

The January 13 video captures Alex Pretti in full confrontation mode during a Minneapolis immigration enforcement operation. At the 17-minute mark, he approaches federal SUVs blocking traffic, shouting obscenities while flipping off agents and daring them to pepper-spray him. After an agent briefly confronts then retreats, Pretti escalates further by spitting toward the vehicle door and kicking the taillight hard enough to damage it. Agents finally respond by wrestling him to the pavement amid screaming protesters, then inexplicably release him without arrest. A gun remains visible in his waistband throughout the encounter.

The Fatal Consequence of Half Measures

Federal agents faced a straightforward decision on January 13: arrest an individual who had just committed assault on officers and vandalism of government property while armed, or let him walk. They chose the latter, deploying pepper balls and tear gas to disperse the crowd but taking no enforcement action against Pretti himself despite clear probable cause. Eleven days later, those same dynamics played out again on Minneapolis streets during another immigration operation. This time, the confrontation ended with agents firing approximately twelve rounds from their Glock 19 and 47 service weapons, killing Pretti after what they described as a physical struggle with an armed subject.

PR Fallout of the New Pretti Video: Aggressive Policing Would’ve Saved This Weirdo’s Lifehttps://t.co/RQV4OHcQGd

— PJ Media Updates (@PJMediaUpdates) January 29, 2026

The contrast reveals a dangerous middle ground in modern policing where officers simultaneously employ excessive force in crowd control while failing to enforce basic laws against individual offenders. Use-of-force experts including University of Wisconsin law professor John Gross have called the federal tactics “extremely violent, unnecessarily so,” pointing to close-range pepper spray deployment and aggressive physical contact. Yet these same agents allowed a man who assaulted them, damaged federal property, and carried a concealed weapon during the commission of those crimes to simply walk away. That decision guaranteed a future confrontation with a now-emboldened protestor who had learned federal authority was negotiable.

The Public Relations Disaster Unfolds

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist” intending mass casualties, a characterization the video evidence struggles to support. The footage shows no weapon drawn, no threatening gestures toward bystanders, and protesters actually attempting to render aid after the shooting. Attorney Steve Schleicher, representing the Pretti family, insists the January 13 incident bears no relevance to the fatal shooting, a position that defies common sense. How agents handle an armed individual who has already demonstrated willingness to assault them directly informs how they must approach that same individual in subsequent encounters. The family confirmed Pretti sustained injuries on January 13 but sought no medical care, remaining with demonstrators who continued interfering with federal operations.

What Proper Enforcement Would Have Prevented

A lawful arrest on January 13 would have removed Pretti from the January 24 encounter entirely. Charges of assaulting federal officers, destruction of government property, and disorderly conduct were readily provable with video evidence and witness testimony. Instead, federal agents chose theatrical force projection through chemical irritants while avoiding the harder work of processing an arrest and facing the inevitable backlash from Minneapolis activists and officials already hostile to Trump administration immigration enforcement. That calculation prioritized short-term public relations over officer safety and legal accountability. Retired law enforcement experts note that proper crowd management begins with verbal commands and proportional responses, not oscillating between excessive force and complete capitulation to lawbreakers.

The investigation continues under judicial oversight after a judge blocked evidence destruction, with bodycam footage still pending release. Minneapolis residents endure ongoing tensions between federal immigration operations and local resistance, a dynamic complicated by Governor Walz’s strained relationship with the Trump administration. What remains clear from the available evidence is that Alex Pretti presented a known threat to federal agents based on his documented January 13 behavior, and those agents failed to employ the most effective tool available: straightforward arrest and prosecution. The subsequent fatal shooting represents not just a tragedy for the Pretti family, but a failure of law enforcement to enforce laws when doing so was both legally justified and tactically prudent.