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Headline Roundup January 29th, 2026

Video Shows Pretti In Altercation With Feds 11 Days Before Shooting

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Video footage surfacing on Wednesday showed Alex Pretti shouting and spitting at Border Patrol agents and kicking their vehicle 11 days before being fatally shot by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

The Details: The video, confirmed by family members and their attorney to be footage of Pretti, showed him engaging with agents on January 13 in Minneapolis, where he spit at the agents while yelling expletives including, "Assault me, motherf***er." Pretti then kicked the taillight off of the agent's vehicle before being tackled, but then appeared to break free from the agents and walked away while the agents left the scene. After having his coat ripped off, the video also showed what appears to be a gun in his waistband.

"Gentle Nurse Narrative Cracks": Outlets on the right like Blaze Media (Right bias) highlighted the narrative advanced by some that Pretti was a peaceful protester. For example, CNN (Lean Left) senior political commentator Ana Navarro said, "Alex Pretti was the perfect guy. He's the guy that you want to date your daughter. He's the man you want your son to be. A decent human being who was serving humanity." The Blaze Media article said following the newly-surfaced video, "Now we know that Alex Pretti was not a kindly gentle nurse… he was a criminal."

Sparked Civil Unrest: Other outlets on the right, such as The Daily Wire (Right), highlighted the civil unrest following the shootings of Pretti and 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis. The article suggested that state and local officials within Minnesota "have continued to encourage anti-immigration enforcement activists to resist federal law enforcement efforts."

"Roiling Anger":  Outlets on the left, like The Guardian (Left), conversely tended to focus coverage around what they called the "roiling anger over the immigration enforcement operation" in Minneapolis and highlighted Pretti showing concern for the other protesters after breaking free from the police in the January 13 altercation. The article also mentioned other instances of the enforcement operation, highlighting the federal officers smashing car windows and tackling a man while pushing his head into the ground. Associated Press (Left) coverage highlighted statements from the attorney representing Pretti's parents, who said "Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex's killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24."  

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.

Featured Coverage of this Story

From the Right
'Gentle nurse' narrative cracks: New video appears to show Pretti spit toward federal agents and kick out taillight
'Gentle nurse' narrative cracks: New video appears to show Pretti spit toward federal agents and kick out taillight

Octavio JONES / AFP via GETTY IMAGES

News

Avideo circulated on social media on Wednesday that appears to show Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, having an altercation with federal agents in Minneapolis on January 13, a week before he was fatally shot.

Open on Blaze Media
From the Center
New video emerges of Alex Pretti days prior to Minnesota shooting
News

Minneapolis remained on edge Thursday after the shooting deaths of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom have been characterized by the Trump administration as looking to harm the federal agents who killed them.

Open on NewsNation
From the Left
Videos show altercation between Alex Pretti and federal officers 11 days before he was killed
News

Videos emerged on Wednesday of a previous confrontation between Alex Pretti and federal agents, 11 days before the ICU nurse was fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis.

Open on The Guardian

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