In Alex Pretti's killing, a sharp contrast between what Trump officials say and what video shows
By
/ CBS News
Since federal agents shot and killed
a Minnesota ICU nurse in south Minneapolis on Saturday, top
administration officials have made claims about the encounter that are contradicted by bystander video and witness testimony.
Those
officials — including a Cabinet secretary, a top White House official
and top law enforcement officials — have alleged, without providing
evidence, that 37-year-old Alex Pretti wanted to murder agents. They
claimed that he attacked agents, despite video evidence to the contrary.
They questioned his legal right to carry a concealed weapon. And they
asserted that Pretti received immediate care for his wounds, though a
witness said otherwise.
Consider the claims, and how they compare to video footage and witness testimony:
The claim: DHS says Pretti approached law enforcement with a handgun
Just two hours after Pretti was shot and killed, a statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security
claimed that he had "approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm
semi-automatic handgun." The statement said agents tried to disarm him,
but he "violently resisted."
Screen grab from video showing Alex Pretti speaking with federal agents before he was fatally shot by Border Patrol agent.
Screen grab from CBS News Minnesota video
Several officers can be seen shoving Pretti to the ground, then an
officer in gray removes a gun from Pretti's waist and runs from the
skirmish while holding the gun. The first shot is fired about a second
later.
An officer wearing a gray
jacket is seen emerging from skirmish with Alex Pretti holding a
handgun appearing to match the photo of the gun released by the Dept. of
Homeland Security. Video obtained by CBS News also showed this officer
removing the gun from Pretti's waist. As the officer walks away, the
first shots are heard.
Screen grab from CBS News visual investigation
What witnesses said: In sworn statements, two
witnesses said they didn't see Pretti brandish a weapon. One described
seeing Pretti observing and filming the scene "just with his camera out.
I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun." Another said she saw a
civilian "yelling at the ICE agents, but I did not see him attack the
agents or brandish a weapon of any kind."
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem repeatedly claimed on Saturday that Pretti
"impeded their law enforcement operations" and "attacked those
officers." Noem also asserted that Pretti arrived on scene "wishing to
inflict harm on these officers." Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino said
Saturday that "this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to
do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement," and on CNN Sunday, he
insisted that Pretti had been "actively impeding and assaulting law
enforcement." FBI Director Kash Patel echoed these sentiments Sunday on
Fox Business, saying: "You do not get to attack law enforcement
officials in this country without any repercussions."
What video shows: Videos
of the scene leading up to the shooting show that Pretti was directing
traffic and not interacting with federal officers until a woman nearby
was knocked down by an officer.
Screen grab showing Alex
Pretti (right side of frame) directing traffic shortly before struggle
with U.S. Border Patrol that resulted in his fatal shooting, Jan. 24.
Screen grab from CBS News visual investigation of the Border Patrol killing of Alex Pretti
When Pretti tried to help her up, an officer sprayed him in the
face with a chemical irritant, and other officers surrounded him and
dragged him to the ground. Videos show that Pretti was holding his cell
phone, not a gun, when he was approached by agents.
Alex Pretti was seen
directing traffic and was not interacting with federal officers until a
woman nearby was knocked down by an officer. This screen grab shows the
woman (left) being pushed. Pretti is on the far right of the frame.
Screen grab from CBS News visual investigation of the Border Patrol killing of Alex Pretti
What witnesses said: The two witnesses who
submitted sworn statements described seeing Pretti shoved to the ground.
One said: "It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to
help the woman up." The other said she didn't see Pretti attack agents,
and saw "absolutely no need for any violence, let alone lethal force by
multiple officers."
The claim: DHS says medics immediately rendered aid
The DHS statement
also claimed that "Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to
the subject," a claim that was disputed by a pediatrician who rushed to
the scene after she heard the gunshots.
What a witness said:
"None of the ICE agents who were near the victim were performing CPR,"
the pediatrician bystander said in a court declaration. Instead, she
said, the "victim was lying on his side and was surrounded by several
ICE agents" who "appeared to be counting his bullet wounds."
The claim: Stephen Miller calls Pretti a "would-be assassin"
Pretti
had no criminal record but just three hours after he was killed, White
House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller condemned him in a social media post as "a would-be assassin" who had "tried to murder federal law enforcement."
What the video shows: Cell
phone videos showed that Pretti did not have a gun in his hands before
he was pushed to the ground by federal agents. Several videos from
before the shooting show that Pretti was holding a phone in his right
hand and nothing in his left.
The claim: Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem call Pretti a "domestic terrorist"
Miller called Pretti a "domestic terrorist,"
the same term he used to describe 37-year-old Renee Good after she was
shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis less than three weeks
ago. Noem also accused Pretti of "domestic terrorism," accusing him of
desiring to "perpetuate violence" for "ideological reasons."
Any supporting evidence? Federal
officials have not released any evidence to indicate that Pretti had
plans to commit violence for ideological reasons. In an interview with
Fox News on Sunday, Noem was asked for proof of her assertion that
Pretti had violent motives. She declined to provide that proof, saying
instead that as "part of this investigation, we'll be hearing from those
agents and officers and people on the ground."
The claim: Kash Patel says, "You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want"
FBI
Director Kash Patel suggested that Pretti had violated the law by
bringing a weapon to the scene of a Border Patrol raid. "You cannot
bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest
that you want," he said on Fox News. "It's that simple. You don't have that right to break the law and incite violence." Bovino said on CNN
that Second Amendment rights "don't count when you riot and assault…law
enforcement officers." And Noem said: "I don't know of any peaceful
protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign."
President Trump, too, weighed in, telling The Wall Street Journal:
"I don't like any shooting. I don't like it. But I don't like it when
somebody goes into a protest and he's got a very powerful, fully loaded
gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn't play
good either."
What the law says: Minnesota law permits carrying a
handgun in public, provided you have a permit. Pretti has been described
by local officials as a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.
Reaction from gun rights advocates:
Those assertions from administration officials drew rebukes from gun
rights advocates who typically find common cause with the GOP. "The
Second Amendment protects Americans' right to bear arms while
protesting—a right the federal government must not infringe upon," the
Gun Owners of America posted on X. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican who
respresents Kentucky's 4th congressional district, wrote on X, "Carrying
a firearm is not a death sentence, it's a Constitutionally protected
God-given right, and if you don't understand this you have no business
in law enforcement or government."
Layla Ferris and
Maddie Kornfeld
contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment