The video of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who was fatally shot by ICE officers in Minneapolis last Saturday, that took social media by storm on Wednesday afternoon, is indeed authentic. The Minnesota Star-Tribune reported late Wednesday that “a spokesperson for his family and the family’s attorney have verified that the man seen in the video is Pretti.”
The video was recorded on January 13, 11 days prior to his death, by a bystander, and later obtained by The News Movement (TNM).
It features Pretti angrily spitting at ICE agents and kicking the taillight off an ICE vehicle. The vehicle stops, and an agent steps out. He grabs Pretti and pushes him to the ground. Other agents join the scuffle. Before long, the agents retreat. Pretti stands up and remains with the other agitators.
TNM’s narrator told viewers, “What appears to be a gun is also visible above his waistband.”
It’s been widely reported that Pretti suffered a broken rib during an encounter with federal agents the week before his death. I assume that happened during this clash.
Prior to the confirmation from the Pretti family’s spokesperson, TNM reported on X that it “appears to be Alex Pretti interacting with federal immigration agents” and that the clip had been analyzed by the BBC, “whose facial recognition technology confirmed his identify to a 97% degree of accuracy.”
The Star-Tribune’s bias was evident throughout the entire article. The newspaper quoted the Pretti family’s attorney, Steve Schleicher, who said, “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street — despite posing no threat to anyone — he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents.”
From the Star-Tribune:
[Max] Shapiro, a Minneapolis-based corporate tax attorney [who recorded the video], rushed to the area just before 10:30 a.m. after Signal group chats alerted him to ICE enforcement activity near his young son’s Spanish-Immersion daycare.Shapiro said he witnessed several in the crowd of 15 to 20 people lobbing snowballs at agents. Then, he said, a bearded man positioned in the street — wearing a brown coat, black hat and sunglasses — proceeded to kick out the taillight of an agent’s SUV.Shapiro’s account matches events captured in separate video posted to social media Wednesday afternoon by conservative influencer Nick Sortor, showing the encounter from a different angle.Shapiro’s recording begins seconds later when Pretti is seen flipping off the car full of federal officers. One beelines straight toward him and spins him to the ground. Other agents shoot pepper balls, toss smoke canisters and threaten the use of chemical irritants in an attempt to keep the angry crowd back.Three other officers pounce on the man, appearing to strike him while restrained.The reaction to Pretti’s smashing of the tail light seemed overly aggressive, Shapiro later told the Star Tribune.“Is it grounds for getting out of a car after you’ve already packed up and decided that you were going to leave and then assault a person and harass a group of observers? Probably not,” Shapiro said, noting that Pretti did not appear to fight back, only attempt to flee.
In a Tuesday night appearance on CNN, far-left contributor Ana Navarro — best known as a co-host of ABC’s The View — made remarks that did not age well. She said of Pretti,“This is like the perfect guy. Alex Pretti’s the guy you’d want to date your daughter. The guy you want your son to grow up to be. A decent human being who was serving humanity …”
With all due respect, I would hate for my daughter to date him, and I’m happy that my sons are nothing like him.
Update: Thursday, 1:45
The hypocrisy never stops with the Democrats. In the post below, X favorite MAZE combined the Pretti video with a heartwarming tribute from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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