The witness, a local resident who asked to remain anonymous, recorded the encounter on her phone and has now provided a sworn affidavit in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the federal government. Her version of events differs sharply from initial claims.
She says Pretti, an ICU nurse, was not holding a weapon when he approached officers. Instead, she reports, he was trying to help a woman who had fallen. In her statement, she describes seeing him with only a phone in his hand and no visible firearm.
“I didn’t see him with a gun,” the witness said. “He wasn’t resisting — he was helping a woman up. Then agents threw him to the ground.”
According to her account, multiple agents restrained Pretti and then opened fire. “They shot him so many times,” she said. “He was only helping. I was five feet away.”
Video shared by observers also appears to show a federal agent removing a handgun from Pretti’s holster before the shooting, suggesting he may have been unarmed at the moment shots were fired. The footage and testimony form a central plank of the ACLU’s legal challenge, which argues that the government’s public statements misrepresented what actually happened.
The witness also described other moments in the encounter, including agents using pepper spray on bystanders and individuals who had their hands raised. “He approached them with a camera,” she said of Pretti. “I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbours and my state.”
Pretti’s family has pushed back strongly against official characterizations of him as an aggressor. In a public statement, they said the description of their son as a violent threat is “reprehensible and disgusting,” and insisted the footage and eyewitness accounts show he was unarmed and trying to protect others.
“Alex has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand raised above his head,” the family wrote, “while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down.”
Their statement urged the public and media to share what really happened and to remember Pretti as “a good man,” not the caricature some officials portrayed.
As investigations continue and legal action unfolds, Minnesota’s communities — already dealing with heightened tension and distrust — are watching closely. This latest incident has once again thrust questions of enforcement policy, use of force, and government transparency into the national conversation.
What do you think about the differing accounts in this case? Share your perspective in the comments below and join the discussion.