Video shared on social media Wednesday appeared to show Alex Pretti getting into a confrontation with federal immigration enforcement agents more than a week before he was shot during a skirmish with officers.
Pretti, 37, reportedly had a gun on his person when he was shot Saturday.
The News Movement posted the video crediting the BBC’s facial recognition software for identifying it as Pretti with a 97 percent degree of accuracy at the earlier incident on Jan. 13.
The narrator of the video said that his team of reporters had received a tip that the federal officers were blocking an intersection in Minneapolis.
The footage showed a man, who was apparently Pretti, screaming at federal agents inside an SUV. As they started to drive away, the man kicked the vehicle’s taillight multiple times, causing it to break loose.
Agents then got out of their vehicles, grabbed the man, and pushed him to the ground. However, they ultimately let him go.
“The man in our footage is wearing a similar outfit to what Pretti was wearing on the day he was killed. What appears to be a gun is also visible above his waistband,” the narrator noted.
We were filming a documentary about ICE activity in Minneapolis when we received a tip that federal agents were blocking a street, and captured this footage.
Reporting by @danming, Dallin Mello, and BBC Verify.https://t.co/sZcpUBQOpr
— The News Movement (@thenewsmovement) January 28, 2026
NewsNation host Katie Pavlich, who is a strong proponent of the Second Amendment, posted on X in response to the video, “You have a right to carry a firearm and peacefully protest. You do not have a right to carry a firearm and commit crimes.”
The crimes she was referring to were ostensibly attacking federal officers and damaging government property.
You have a right to carry a firearm and peacefully protest.
You do not have a right to carry a firearm and commit crimes. https://t.co/UKNZTnGB8k
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) January 28, 2026
CNN reported on Tuesday that Pretti got into a violent confrontation with federal officers about a week before he was shot. The story would seem to increase the likelihood that he was the person in the News Movement video above.
“It is unclear how Pretti first came to the attention of federal authorities, but sources told CNN that about a week before his death, he suffered a broken rib when a group of federal officers tackled him while he was protesting their attempt to detain other individuals,” the news outlet said.
“Pretti later told the source that five agents tackled him and one leaned on his back — an encounter that left him with a broken rib. The agents quickly released him at the scene,” according to CNN, which also matches the confrontation in the News Movement video.
The CNN unnamed source said, “That day, he thought he was going to die.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to CNN that “DHS law enforcement has no record of this incident.”
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