{"id":7887,"date":"2026-01-26T18:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/?p=7887"},"modified":"2026-01-26T18:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:27:13","slug":"what-the-woman-who-filmed-the-alex-pretti-incident-says-really-took-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/what-the-woman-who-filmed-the-alex-pretti-incident-says-really-took-place\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Woman Who Filmed the Alex Pretti Incident Says Really Took Place"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A dramatic new eyewitness account has emerged in the wake of the fatal shooting of 37\u2011year\u2011old protester <strong>Alex Pretti<\/strong> in Minnesota, adding fuel to a controversy that has divided public opinion and drawn intense national attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pretti was killed on <strong>Saturday, January 24<\/strong>, during an encounter with federal immigration officers in <strong>Minneapolis<\/strong>, where increased enforcement activity has already sparked protests and deep concerns among many residents. His death comes less than a month after the high\u2011profile fatal shooting of <strong>Renee Good<\/strong>, further intensifying public debate over federal enforcement tactics and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to federal officials, Pretti was shot after allegedly brandishing a firearm and posing a threat to officers. Secretary of Homeland Security <strong>Kristi Noem<\/strong> stated that he intended to cause \u201cmaximum damage,\u201d and former President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> shared images of a gun he said was taken from Pretti during the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the release of new video footage and testimony from an eyewitness has raised serious questions about that official account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Two different video angles clearly showing that ICE had already disarmed Alex Pretti when they shot him. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9VxfY1of3z\">pic.twitter.com\/9VxfY1of3z<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Project Liberal (@ProjectLiberal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProjectLiberal\/status\/2015153223200305607?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Continue reading on next page&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The witness, a local resident who asked to remain anonymous, recorded the encounter on her phone and has now provided a <strong>sworn affidavit<\/strong> in a lawsuit filed by the <strong>American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)<\/strong> against the federal government. Her version of events differs sharply from initial claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She says Pretti, an <strong>ICU nurse<\/strong>, 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 <em>only a phone in his hand<\/em> and no visible firearm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI didn\u2019t see him with a gun,\u201d the witness said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t resisting \u2014 he was helping a woman up. Then agents threw him to the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to her account, multiple agents restrained Pretti and then opened fire. \u201cThey shot him so many times,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was only helping. I was five feet away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Video shared by observers also appears to show a federal agent removing a handgun from Pretti\u2019s 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\u2019s legal challenge, which argues that the government\u2019s public statements misrepresented what actually happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The witness also described other moments in the encounter, including agents using pepper spray on bystanders and individuals who had their hands raised. \u201cHe approached them with a camera,\u201d she said of Pretti. \u201cI am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbours and my state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pretti\u2019s 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 \u201creprehensible and disgusting,\u201d and insisted the footage and eyewitness accounts show he was <em>unarmed and trying to protect others<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAlex has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand raised above his head,\u201d the family wrote, \u201cwhile trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their statement urged the public and media to share <em>what really happened<\/em> and to remember Pretti as \u201ca good man,\u201d not the caricature some officials portrayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As investigations continue and legal action unfolds, Minnesota\u2019s communities \u2014 already dealing with heightened tension and distrust \u2014 are watching closely. This latest incident has once again thrust questions of enforcement policy, use of force, and government transparency into the national conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"642\" src=\"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-655.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7888\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.1962955751350826;width:569px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-655.png 768w, https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-655-300x251.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color\"><kbd><sub><sup>Alex Pretti VA Image (official portrait by United States Department of Veterans Affairs)<\/sup><\/sub><\/kbd><\/mark><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What do you think about the differing accounts in this case? Share your perspective in the comments below and join the discussion.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A dramatic new eyewitness account has emerged in the wake of the fatal shooting of 37\u2011year\u2011old protester Alex Pretti in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7890,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7887\/revisions\/7890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}