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2 federal agents involved in shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis have been placed on leave
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Two federal agents who were involved in Saturday’s fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis have been placed on administrative leave, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson.
The spokesperson said in an email to CBC News said the move is standard protocol, and that they have been on leave since Saturday when the fatal shooting occurred.
Video taken from multiple angles shows immigration agents fired multiple shots at Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a hospital for veterans. His death was the second fatal encounter between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and U.S. citizens in Minnesota this month, sparked a national uproar.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said it is reviewing the shooting.
U.S. government officials say ICE agents fatally shot Alex Pretti at a protest in Minneapolis because he had a gun on his person and, according to U.S. President Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser Stephen Miller, was a ‘would-be assassin.’ Andrew Chang breaks down several video angles of the shooting, moment by moment, to understand how accurate the government’s initial account is.
Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
An initial U.S. government review of the fatal shooting of Pretti made no mention of him brandishing a firearm, despite initial statements by Trump administration officials highlighting the weapon.
A preliminary review by U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Pretti was shot by two federal officers, a Border Patrol agent and a customs officer, after he refused to move out of the street following an order from a customs officer.
In the hours after Pretti was killed on Saturday, top Trump administration officials portrayed the ICU nurse as an aggressor, assertions that were quickly contradicted by video from the scene.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said he “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun,” but did not mention that the weapon was holstered.
White House aide Stephen Miller — the driver of Trump’s immigration agenda — called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and “would-be assassin” without presenting evidence to support the claims.
The CBP review, conducted by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility and shared with lawmakers on Tuesday, is standard protocol and shared with members of the U.S. Congress to promote transparency, CBP spokesperson Hilton Beckham said.
Beckham said the notifications “provide an initial outline of an event that took place and do not convey any definitive conclusion or investigative findings.”
Details in the preliminary review reinforced the disconnect between how Trump officials portrayed the shooting and the video evidence.