New York Times video analysis shows feds' version of the Alex Pretti shooting is riddled with lies, and agents' poor judgment caused a mild incident to turn fatal

With Alex Pretti subdued on the ground, an agent (left) prepares to fire the first shot (NY Times)

Federal agents who killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday made a series of bad decisions that turned what could have been a relatively mild incident into a fatal encounter, according to a new video analysis published Sunday (1/26/26) by The New York Times.

Five reporters -- Devon Lum, Haley Willis, Alexander Cardia, Dmitriy Khavin, and Ainara Tiefenthaler -- conducted The Times analysis, reporting under the headline "New Video Analysis Reveals Flawed and Fatal Decisions in Shooting of Pretti: A frame-by-frame assessment of actions by Alex Pretti and the two officers who fired 10 times shows how lethal force came to be used against a man who didn't pose a threat.

The video can be viewed by clicking the link above. The piece is professionally edited and narrated, providing the most concise and clear description of the incident I've seen so far. In fact, it might be the most easily understood account of the Pretti shooting any of us are likely to see. That The Times was able to pull this together so soon after the shooting is a quite a feat of journalism -- and it likely will answer questions many Americans have about what happened. 

We encourage our readers to view the video and save the link for future reference. The video is disturbing to watch -- even if you have watched enough video to know what is about to happen. But I hope that won't keep you from watching it for a number of reasons -- (1) It shows, in stark images and chilling audio, the kind of police state the Donald Trump administration has unleashed upon our country; (2) It can be used to help counter lies Trump officials already have told, plus new lies they likely will create in the future; (3) It should help all of us become determined to see that the killers (clearly seen in the video), and the officials pulling their strings, are held accountable -- hopefully bringing an end to Trump's nightmarish reign as soon as possible.

As noted, The Times report is in a video format, but it also includes a written summary, and we will base our report on that transcript:

When federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, officials said he approached agents with a handgun, intending to massacre them.

“An individual approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun.”

“This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.” 

But a Times analysis of video footage from the scene in the moments when two officers opened fire, clearly contradict federal government statements. Pretti does not appear to pose a threat to agents. In fact, at several critical junctures, he is outnumbered and under their control. Here are the key moments that reveal what happened:

The video begins with Pretti walking among the crowd, filming protesters, directing traffic.  A lot appears to be going on, but everything seems relatively calm, but that is about to change:

We see Pretti walking about, filming a group of protesters who are speaking with a federal agent. He’s holding a cell phone in one hand. The other hand is empty. It’s just over 30 seconds before the shooting when a protester is pushed to the ground. Pretti steps between her and the agent who’d shoved her, briefly putting his hand on the agent’s waist. The agent pepper-sprays Pretti’s face. We can see Pretti is still holding his phone in one hand while holding his other hand up to protect himself against the spray.

At this point, the story we can see unfold with our own eyes begins to veer wildly from what federal officials have told us:

Contrary to statements by federal officials, he’s made no threatening movements towards agents. Pretti, who had a firearms permit, carries a gun holstered on his right hip, but he doesn’t reach for it. And it appears agents are unaware the gun is even there. He reaches toward the protester, apparently trying to help her up, while agents begin grabbing him from behind. He tries to pull away, and again he makes no threatening movements towards the agents. But agents pull him backwards and force him to the ground.

With a series of loud pops, the scene takes a horrifying turn:

Then shots ring out. [gunfire] Now we’ll slow things down, so each moment is clear. Here is Pretti. Several agents are restraining him. And this is the Border Patrol agent who will shoot him first. This appears to be when agents first notice that Pretti is carrying a firearm and yell that he has a gun. Watching the same moment from a different angle, the agent who first pepper-sprayed Pretti beats him several times with the spray canister. We can see that both of Pretti’s arms are pinned down by his head. This agent in gray reaches to remove Pretti’s weapon from his hip, as this agent unholsters his gun, nudges the agent in gray out of the way and fires.

The Times makes expert use of slow motion, close-ups, and graphics to slow down and clarify what is happening in a chaotic scene:

[gunfire] Let’s rewind and focus on the agent who shoots first. Just seconds before he fired, he was facing away from Pretti and focusing on an entirely different situation as he tries to spray a nearby woman with an irritant. The spray appears to malfunction, and the agent turns as he adjusts it. That’s when someone yells that Pretti has a gun. And around five seconds after fully turning his attention toward Pretti, the agent draws his weapon and shoots. [gunfire] His arm visibly recoils at the first shot.

At this point, Pretti is not a threat, and he did not appear to be a threat throughout the confrontation, contrary to what federal officials have stated:

The firearm has clearly been removed from the scrum when the first shots are fired toward Pretti at close range. [gunfire] The officer who disarmed Pretti can be seen reacting to the sound of the first shot, looking back toward the skirmish. The shooter was standing behind Pretti and not under direct threat, contradicting statements from Homeland Security officials that he fired defensive shots. He also has a vantage point to see the gun pulled from the scene, but it’s unclear if he did and whether he thought a weapon was still on Pretti. He then fires three more shots from behind Pretti, whose arms are down as he appears to brace himself against the pavement. In one hand, he still holds his phone, and in his other, his glasses. The agent in gray, who removed Pretti’s gun, carries it across the street. Pretti is disarmed and falling to the ground. But the agent who first pepper-sprayed Pretti and later beat him with a canister, also pulls out his gun. From a distance, despite the fact that Pretti is lying motionless on the ground, these two agents fire six more shots. Neither is under threat. [screaming] [gunfire, screaming] In total, the agents fire 10 shots in five seconds. 

A report from CBS News and Yahoo! confirms that two officers fired their guns. The video ends with a curious moment, one that indicates federal agents in the Trump Era are so poorly trained that they often fail to communicate with the public -- seemingly with no skills in de-escalation -- but they also don't communicate well with each other:

After the shooting, an agent kneeling next to Pretti’s body asks where the gun is — — showing that not all of the officers seem to know the weapon had been removed. Agents appear to begin giving medical aid. About 31 seconds elapsed from the time agents first physically engaged Pretti to the moment the last shot was fired.