Eyewitnesses to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by federal ICE agents in Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon (01/24) testified under oath that he was not carrying a weapon when he approached them, directly contradicting the Trump administration’s claims that the fatal shooting was in self-defense.
The testimonies of two witnesses are included in sworn affidavits filed late Saturday night in a federal court in Minnesota, just hours after Alex Pretti’s death. The affidavits are part of a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of Minneapolis protesters against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials coordinating the immigration crackdown in the city.
Minneapolis: What eyewitnesses allege about the 37-year-old’s death by ICE agents
The first witness is a woman who recorded the clearest video of the fatal moment, while the second is a 29-year-old doctor who lives near the scene. As he reported, federal agents initially prevented him from providing medical assistance to the injured man. The names of both witnesses have been redacted from public documents.
Homem morre durante operação do ICE em Minneapolis, diz jornal local https://t.co/nWfEmbVATE #g1
— g1 (@g1) January 24, 2026
In her testimony, the woman – who was wearing a pink coat and was directly behind Pretti at the moment of the shooting – was presented to authorities as a “children’s entertainer specializing in face painting.” As she stated, she was at the scene on her way to work, emphasizing that “I monitor what happens in my community because it’s very important to document what ICE does to my neighbors.” The witness described scenes of tension, saying that Alex Pretti rushed to help another woman who was at the scene and whom agents had pushed to the ground.
In her testimony, she states that the federal agent pepper-sprayed both Pretti and the woman he was trying to help. She testified that she never saw Pretti carrying a weapon at any time. As she characteristically stated: “The agents pulled the man to the ground. I didn’t see him touch them – he wasn’t even turned toward them. He didn’t appear to be resisting, just trying to help the woman get up. I didn’t see him with a weapon. They threw him down. Four or five agents held him on the ground and started shooting him. They shot him so many times… I don’t know why they shot him. He was just helping. I was five feet away and they shot him.”
Alex Jeffrey Pretti. Nacido en Illinois. Graduado de la Universidad de Minnesota, profesional médico, empleado en el Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos de EE. UU., amante de la naturaleza y dueño de un perro, propietario legal de armas sin antecedentes penales.
“Alex era el… pic.twitter.com/yrmkjMJ4R2
— Indie 505 (@Indie5051) January 25, 2026
She added that the official announcements from the Department of Homeland Security do not correspond to reality. “The man did not approach the agents with a weapon. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they threw him to the ground,” she noted, expressing her fear that authorities are looking for her.
“Agents didn’t check for pulse or perform CPR after the shooting”
The second witness, a 29-year-old doctor, testified that he watched the incident from the window of his apartment. As he stated, before the shooting he saw Pretti shouting at the agents, but “I didn’t see him attack them or hold any kind of weapon.”
After the shooting, the doctor tried to provide medical assistance but was initially denied access. As he testified: “Initially the ICE agents wouldn’t let me approach. None of them provided cardiopulmonary resuscitation and I could tell the victim was in critical condition.”
When he was finally allowed to approach, he stated that instead of checking for a pulse or performing CPR, the agents “seemed to be counting the bullet wounds.” According to his medical assessment, Pretti had at least three wounds in his back, one in the upper left part of his chest, and another possible wound in his neck. “I checked for a pulse, but I didn’t feel any,” he said.
The above testimonies, combined with video material examined by the Guardian, are in complete contrast to statements by top Trump administration officials, including the US President, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino, who characterized Pretti as an “armed perpetrator” who approached agents “threatening to slaughter them.”
Wave of protests
Extensive protests against ICE across the country were triggered by Alex Pretti’s death. Beyond Minnesota, thousands of protesters took to the streets of San Francisco and Oakland in northern California, expressing solidarity. In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass publicly condemned Pretti’s death during a vigil in the city center. Mass mobilizations had also occurred last June over immigration issues.
Protests also took place outside ICE headquarters in Washington, while in Chicago citizens gathered in polar cold conditions for “urgent action,” as they stated. In New York, more than a thousand protesters gathered Saturday afternoon in Union Square, holding signs with the slogan “Justice for Alex.” Finally, mobilizations were also recorded in Austin, Texas, Seattle, and Portland, where hundreds of citizens gathered outside ICE buildings, condemning the new deadly intervention.
