Analysis of CNN video shows a federal immigration officer wresting a gun from Alex Pretty shortly before officers fatally shot him. Surveillance video shows one agent reaching into a crowd of other officers trying to restrain Pretty and pulling out what appears to be a firearm that the Department of Homeland Security claims Pretty was in possession of.
A federal police officer in a gray jacket is seen pulling a gun from Alex Pretty's waistband and walking away from the crowd. Officers can be heard yelling "he's got a gun" as the unidentified agent reaches into Preeti's waistband as a crowd of officers try to subdue him. A little more than a second after the officer appeared with his weapon in hand, a gunshot rang out, followed by at least nine more, according to video footage.
The footage shows that the officer who took the weapon had nothing in his hand before approaching Preity. It's not clear from the video footage reviewed by CNN whether the officer who took the gun from Preeti immediately told the others he was taking it away.
During that time, the New York Times reported that the man shot by federal agents was carrying a phone, not a gun, in his hand.
This is the second homicide involving ICE agents in January. after one of them killed a woman in the street in Minneapolis, and the footage suggested that it was not self-defense.
What did the state say?
Donald Trump posted a photo on the social network Truth Social that allegedly shows the gun of the murdered man.
"This is the shooter's gun, loaded, with two more full frames, and ready to go - what is this even about? Where are the local police? Why aren't they allowed to protect ICE officers? Have the mayor and governor pulled them," he wrote.
In a statement, Home Office spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin claimed an officer shot Pretty out of fear for his life.
"Officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect violently resisted," McLaughlin said. "Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of his fellow officers, one agent fired defensive shots."
She added that doctors treated Preeti, but he was declared dead on the spot.
At no point in any of the footage reviewed by CNN is Preti seen holding a weapon; he can be seen carrying a mobile phone in one hand earlier in the meeting.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said at a news conference that Pretty is believed to be a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.
"From what I can see right now, this does not appear to be a justified shooting," said Charles Ramsey, a former police commissioner in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., who reviewed the videos as a law enforcement analyst for CNN. "The guy's laying on the sidewalk … and they're still shooting at him."
Before the shooting, video footage reviewed by CNN showed tensions quickly escalated in a south Minneapolis neighborhood where a group of federal agents was conducting an operation. About two minutes before the shots were fired, several agents were seen detaining a person on the street as bystanders whistled, honked their horns and took video, according to one video taken from a nearby car.
Pretty -- a 37-year-old man who, according to his family, worked as an intensive care nurse at a hospital in Minneapolis, Virginia -- was first seen standing in the street, holding a cell phone in one hand and filming officers while directing traffic with the other. As the federal agent interacts with other bystanders, Pretty yells at the officer, "Don't push them into traffic!"
