Border Patrol Agent Kills Alex Pretti During Minneapolis Operation

U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said a Border Patrol agent fired defensive shots at 9:05 a.m. Saturday that fatally wounded Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, during a targeted Department of Homeland Security operation in Minneapolis, officials said.

Bovino and DHS asserted that Pretti approached officers with a 9mm handgun, carried two loaded magazines and lacked identification, claims that analyses by The New York Times and Bellingcat and bystander video shared on social media contradict by showing Pretti holding a phone, not a gun.

The Department of Homeland Security reiterated Bovino’s account in a post on X viewed more than 17 million times, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O'Hara disputed the federal narrative and demanded MPD be allowed to secure the scene, officials said.

DHS said approximately 200 people gathered near the scene and that officers used tear gas and pepper spray for crowd control, a deployment officials said followed assaults on agents and obstructions of law enforcement.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said in a press conference that "Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word" and that the state is creating a log of evidence for possible future prosecution of ICE agents, while federal and local investigations remain ongoing, officials said.