Another U.S. citizen with no criminal record was executed in Minneapolis by ICE agents while he tried to assist a woman who had been thrown to the ground by agents. Alex Pretti's family and neighbors are shocked by his death, with his parents saying they were "sickened" by Trump administration officials suggesting their son was a "domestic terrorist."
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said the agents "acted according to their training," and accused Pretti of "brandishing" his weapon and insisted that he "attacked" officers, despite video evidence that disputes that.
Two witnesses in sworn testimony to the killing say that Pretti was not brandishing a firearm. In reality, he was holding a phone.
The Guardian reports:
Their accounts came in sworn affidavits that were filed in federal court in Minnesota late Saturday, just hours after Pretti’s killing, as part of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of Minneapolis protesters against Kristi Noem and other homeland security officials directing the immigration crackdown in the city.
One witness is a woman who filmed the clearest video of the fatal shooting; the other is a physician who lives nearby and said they were initially prevented by federal officers from rendering medical aid to the gunshot victim.
The woman's testimony says, “The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn’t see him touch any of them – he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times … I don’t know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him …”
“I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong," she continues. "The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground."
“I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me, and I don’t feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me," she added. "I don’t know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they’re not telling the truth about what happened.”
The second witness, a 29-year-old physician, said they “did not see him attack the agents or brandish a weapon of any kind," and was initially prevented from medically assisting Pretti.
“At first, the ICE agents wouldn’t let me through,” the witness said. “But none of the ICE agents who were near the victim were performing CPR, and I could tell that the victim was in critical condition. I insisted that the ICE agents let me assess him.”
When the ICE agents were finally convinced to let the doctor assist Pretti, the witness was confused as to why the victim was on his side. The agents, the witness recalled, "appeared to be counting his bullet wounds" instead of performing CPR or checking his pulse.
The physician said that Pretti had “at least three bullet wounds in his back, " one on his upper left chest, and another possible gunshot wound in his neck.
“I checked for a pulse, but I did not feel one,” the witness said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Xitter that her agency has subpoenaed Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, the state's Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Governor Tim Walz.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump expressed shock that Pretti, a legal gun owner, had a holstered gun. "What is that all about?" he wrote on Truth Social. Suddenly, the pro-gun party is against guns. Make it make sense, please.
Our government is lying to us. This shouldn't be about Democrats vs. Republicans. This should be about our government killing US citizens.
