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They Executed an ICU Nurse, Staged the Evidence, Then Called Him a Terrorist
The Killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti and the Manufactured Crisis in Minneapolis
Federal agents didn’t just kill Alex Jeffrey Pretti on a Minneapolis street Saturday morning. They executed him while he was restrained, staged evidence to justify it, fabricated a narrative about what happened, and then—within hours—a top White House advisor smeared this 37-year-old ICU nurse as a “domestic terrorist.”
This isn’t a police shooting gone wrong. This is a documented execution with evidence staging. And it’s part of a larger strategy to manufacture the crisis Stephen Miller needs to invoke the Insurrection Act.
Here’s what actually happened. Video evidence contradicts every single claim the Department of Homeland Security has made.
What DHS Claims
The Department of Homeland Security released this statement Saturday morning:
“At 9:05 a.m. CT, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault, an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. The individual violently resisted efforts to disarm him. Officers fired defensive shots.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s spokesperson added that the man “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. They released a professional photograph of a handgun on a car seat—two magazines visible, clean evidence photo.
Within hours, White House advisor Stephen Miller went further. He called Alex Pretti a “domestic terrorist” who “tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.”
That’s the official narrative. Here’s what the video shows.
What Actually Happened: The 10-Step Execution
We’ve reviewed multiple video angles of the incident. The evidence is clear. This is not what DHS claims. This is an execution with staged evidence.
Step 1: Alex Was Filming Federal Agents
Alex Pretti was documenting federal immigration enforcement activities with his phone. This is protected by the First Amendment. You have the right to film police in public. Alex was exercising that right.
Step 2: ICE Agents Approached a Woman
Federal agents moved to detain a woman. Alex witnessed this. The woman appeared to be pushed or grabbed by agents.
Step 3: Alex Intervened to Help
When Alex saw federal agents targeting the woman, he stepped in. He was being a good Samaritan. A community member protecting a neighbor.
Step 4: Federal Agents Tear Gassed Alex
Instead of de-escalating or explaining, federal agents deployed chemical weapons against Alex. They tear gassed a U.S. citizen for filming them and helping someone.
Step 5: Multiple Agents Restrained Alex—Both Hands Secured
Four to five federal agents in full tactical gear physically restrained Alex Pretti. Video clearly shows both of his hands were secured by agents. He could not move. He had no ability to draw a weapon or resist.
Step 6: Agents Pulled Alex’s Gun From His Pants
While Alex was restrained with both hands secured, federal agents reached into his clothing and pulled a firearm from his pants.
Critical fact: Alex Pretti had a valid Minnesota permit to carry a concealed weapon. It was legal for him to have that gun. It was in his pants—not in his hands. He was not holding it. He could not access it. His hands were secured.
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Step 7: The Gun Was Removed From the Scene
Agents took the firearm away from the immediate area. Video shows the gun was no longer near Alex when the shooting occurred.
Step 8: Alex Was Shot While Hands Were Still Restrained
With Alex Pretti’s hands still secured by federal agents, with his legal firearm already removed from his body and taken away from the scene, Border Patrol agents shot him multiple times.
He was restrained. He was disarmed. He posed no threat. And they shot him anyway.
Step 9: Agents Scattered—No Aid Rendered
After shooting Alex, federal agents immediately dispersed from the scene. They did not render medical aid. They did not try to save his life. They left.
Step 10: Evidence Staged for Public Narrative
Later, the Department of Homeland Security released that clean photograph of the gun. The gun they had pulled from Alex’s pants while he was restrained. The gun they removed before shooting him.
They photographed it on a car seat. Made it look threatening. Two magazines visible. Then they told the media Alex “approached them with a gun.”
The video proves this is a lie.
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Who Was Alex Jeffrey Pretti?
Alex was 37 years old. He was born in Illinois and attended the University of Minnesota. He had been a registered nurse in Minnesota since 2021.
He was an intensive care unit nurse at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System. That means he cared for veterans—America’s service members who were critically ill. ICU nursing requires extensive training, specialized skills, and exceptional compassion. These are the nurses who work with the sickest patients, often determining whether someone lives or dies.
Alex saved lives for a living.
He had no criminal record. Two traffic violations in his entire life. That’s it. No arrests. No warrants. No violent history. No red flags of any kind.
He was a U.S. citizen. He had a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon—completely legal under both Minnesota state law and the Second Amendment.
His father, Michael Pretti, told the Associated Press: “He cared about people deeply, and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset.”
Alex had participated in protests following the January 7th killing of Renee Good—another Minneapolis resident shot and killed by a federal immigration agent.
He was an ICU nurse who cared about justice enough to show up. To document what federal agents were doing. To help someone when agents were grabbing her.
And federal agents executed him for it.
The Legal Standard: This Is Murder
Let’s be very clear about what the law says about use of deadly force.
Tennessee v. Garner (1985) established that a police officer may use deadly force only when a suspect poses an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or others.
Was Alex Pretti an immediate threat? No. He was restrained. Both hands secured. He couldn’t move. His legal firearm had been removed from his body and taken away from the scene. There was no threat.
Graham v. Connor (1989) established that all use of force must be “objectively reasonable” based on the totality of circumstances.
Was shooting a restrained, disarmed man objectively reasonable? Obviously not.
This meets the legal definition of murder. Specifically, deprivation of rights under color of law—18 U.S.C. § 242. When a law enforcement officer willfully deprives a person of their constitutional rights while acting in their official capacity, and that deprivation results in death, it’s a federal crime punishable by death or life imprisonment.
Alex Pretti had constitutional rights:
First Amendment: Right to film police
Second Amendment: Right to legal gun ownership
Fourth Amendment: Protection from unreasonable seizure
Fifth Amendment: Right to due process before deprivation of life
Federal agents violated every single one when they executed him.
The Pattern: Third Shooting in 17 Days
This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s part of a pattern.
January 7, 2026 – ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three. Ross fired into her vehicle. The Department of Justice refused to investigate Ross. Instead, federal prosecutors were ordered to investigate Good’s widow. Six federal prosecutors resigned over the handling of this case.
January 14, 2026 – Federal immigration officers shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan man, in the leg. He survived.
January 24, 2026 – Border Patrol agents executed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, while he was restrained and disarmed.
Three shootings in 17 days. Two fatalities. Both victims were 37 years old. Both killed in south Minneapolis. Both times, DHS fabricated narratives. Both times, state investigators were blocked from accessing crime scenes. Both times, federal agents faced no immediate consequences.
Notice what happens every time:
Federal agents create a violent confrontation
Someone is shot or killed
DHS immediately releases a justifying narrative
State investigators are prevented from collecting evidence
Federal body camera footage is never released
No agent is ever identified
No one is held accountable
This is not a bug. It’s the system working exactly as designed.
The Minnesota BCA Was Blocked From the Crime Scene
Here’s something that should alarm everyone: Minnesota has a state agency specifically designed to investigate officer-involved shootings. It’s called the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). They’re professional, independent investigators who examine these incidents and determine what happened.
On Saturday morning, after Alex Pretti was killed, the BCA attempted to access the crime scene to collect evidence.
The Department of Homeland Security blocked them.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans—who has over 20 years of experience in law enforcement—said this was unprecedented. “We had a signed warrant and we were still denied access,” he said. In his entire career, he had never had a federal agency deny local investigators access to a crime scene.
Federal agents eventually left the scene. But by that point, due to security concerns with the protest crowd, the BCA couldn’t safely collect evidence.
Think about what this means: The federal government killed a U.S. citizen on a city street, then prevented state investigators from examining the evidence. They controlled the entire crime scene. They controlled what evidence was collected. They controlled the narrative.
And they released that staged gun photo before any independent investigation could verify their claims.
This is obstruction of justice. This is a cover-up.
Stephen Miller’s Smear Campaign
Here’s where it gets even more sinister.
Within hours of Alex Pretti’s execution—before any investigation was completed, before his body was cold, before his family had even been properly notified—White House advisor Stephen Miller went on the offensive.
Miller called Alex Pretti a “domestic terrorist” who “tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.”
Zero evidence. Zero investigation. Just a smear of a dead healthcare worker.
Remember: Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse. He saved lives. He had no criminal record. He was filming police and helping a woman when federal agents killed him.
But Stephen Miller—the architect of family separation, the engineer of the Muslim ban, the man who has direct operational oversight over this Minneapolis ICE crackdown—wants you to believe Alex was a terrorist.
Why?
Because Miller needs you to believe Minneapolis is in chaos. He needs you to believe federal agents are under siege. He needs you to believe that local officials have lost control.
Because that’s the justification for invoking the Insurrection Act.
The Insurrection Act Strategy
Let me connect the dots for you.
Stephen Miller has direct operational oversight over Operation Metro Surge—the massive federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. He’s not just advising on this. He’s running it.
Sources report Miller has been making calls to the White House pushing for President Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act.
What is the Insurrection Act? It’s a federal law that allows the president to deploy active-duty military domestically to suppress civil disorder. But more importantly, it allows the federal government to remove elected officials from office and install federal control.
If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, he can:
Deploy active-duty military to Minneapolis
Remove Governor Tim Walz from office
Remove Mayor Jacob Frey from office
Federalize the Minnesota National Guard (they stop answering to Walz and start answering to Trump)
Install federal control over state and local government
This is not hyperbole. This is what the Insurrection Act authorizes.
The act was last invoked in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots. Trump threatened to use it during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, but was blocked by military leadership and his own Defense Secretary James Mattis.
This time, there’s no one left to block him.
So here’s the strategy:
Step 1: Deploy overwhelming federal force to create confrontations Step 2: Execute U.S. citizens (Renee Good, Alex Pretti) Step 3: Stage evidence to justify killings Step 4: Fabricate narratives about “violent resistance” Step 5: Block state investigators from examining evidence Step 6: Smear victims as terrorists (Miller calling Alex “domestic terrorist”) Step 7: Provoke local officials to demand federal agents leave Step 8: Use that “resistance” to claim state has lost control Step 9: Invoke Insurrection Act Step 10: Remove elected officials and install federal control
Alex Pretti’s execution isn’t Step 2. It’s Step 6. We’re watching this play out in real time.
On Saturday afternoon, Governor Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard. They remain under state control—not federalized. This is a defensive move. Walz knows what’s coming. He’s positioning state forces to protect Minneapolis residents before Trump can seize control of them.
But that National Guard activation is exactly what Miller needs. He’ll point to it and say: “See? The state can’t maintain order. The governor had to call out the National Guard. Minnesota is in chaos. We need federal control.”
This execution wasn’t a failure of the operation. It’s the purpose of the operation.
What Happens Next
President Trump posted on Truth Social showing photos of the gun federal agents removed from Alex’s pants, asking: “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”
He’s already framing this as local officials preventing police from protecting federal agents. He’s already building the narrative for the Insurrection Act.
Senator Amy Klobuchar responded: “Donald Trump and all your lieutenants who ordered this ICE surge: watch the horrific video of the killing today. The world is watching. Thousands of citizens stopped and harassed. Local police no longer able to do their work. Kids hiding. Schools closed. Get ICE out of Minnesota NOW.”
Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) called for an investigation and said: “Every agent involved in this shooting must be suspended pending a full and independent investigation and ultimately held to account for their actions today. And, Kristi Noem has got to go. She needs to resign or be fired.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office will attempt to oust ICE and Border Patrol from the state, calling immigration enforcement’s presence in Minnesota an “illegal and unconstitutional occupation.”
The NBA postponed Saturday’s game between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves “to prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community.”
Hundreds of protesters gathered at the scene. Federal agents deployed tear gas, flash bangs, and pepper spray. At least two people were arrested. Protesters chanted “I smell Nazis” and “ICE out now.”
One federal officer, as he walked away from protesters calling him a coward, mockingly responded: “Boo hoo.”
This is where we are.
The Questions DHS Must Answer
If the Department of Homeland Security is telling the truth, they can easily prove it. Here’s what they need to release immediately:
All body camera footage from all federal agents on scene. If Alex Pretti really “approached them with a gun,” show us. If he “violently resisted,” show us. You’ve got the footage. Release it.
Radio communications from before, during, and after the shooting. What were agents saying to each other? What were their orders?
Operation orders for this “targeted operation.” Who were you looking for? What was the probable cause? Where’s the warrant?
Identification of all agents involved. Who restrained Alex Pretti? Who pulled the gun from his pants? Who shot him? You’re public servants. The public has a right to know.
Ballistics report. How many shots were fired? From which weapons? Which agents fired?
Autopsy report. Where was Alex shot? From what angle? What was the distance?
Gun forensics. Were Alex Pretti’s fingerprints on the trigger? On the grip? Or just on the outside of his pants where the gun was legally holstered?
Chain of custody for that gun photo. When was it taken? Who handled the gun between removing it from Alex’s pants and photographing it?
If DHS doesn’t release this evidence, we know why: Because it proves they’re lying.
The video already proves they’re lying. But they control the official evidence. They control what gets released. They control the narrative.
Unless we demand accountability.
What You Can Do
1. Watch the video. Don’t take DHS’s word for it. Don’t take my word for it. Watch the actual footage of what happened.
2. Share this story. Corporate media will move on by Monday. Don’t let them. Keep this story alive. Share it everywhere.
3. Contact your representatives. Demand:
Release of all body camera footage
Independent investigation by Minnesota BCA
Identification and prosecution of all agents involved
Removal of Stephen Miller for false “domestic terrorist” claim
Withdrawal of federal agents from Minneapolis
Congressional hearings on all three Minneapolis shootings
4. Support local journalism. The people documenting this on the ground—like the person who filmed Alex Pretti’s execution—are the ones holding power accountable. Support them.
5. Prepare for what’s coming. The Insurrection Act isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s a real law with real consequences. If Trump invokes it, American cities will be under military control with elected officials removed from office. This is not normal. This is not okay. And it’s coming.
Say His Name
Alex Jeffrey Pretti.
37 years old.
ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System.
U.S. citizen.
Legal gun owner.
No criminal record.
He filmed police. He helped a woman. Federal agents tear gassed him, restrained him, disarmed him, and executed him.
Then they staged evidence to justify it.
Then they lied about what happened.
Then Stephen Miller called him a terrorist.
This is not America. This is what America becomes when we let it happen.
Don’t let them memory-hole this. Don’t let them normalize this. Don’t let them get away with this.
Alex Pretti was murdered by federal agents under color of law. Everyone involved—from the agents who pulled the trigger to the Border Patrol Commander who supervised them to Stephen Miller who ordered this operation to the DHS Secretary who is covering it up—needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
That’s not vengeance. That’s justice.
And if we don’t get it for Alex Pretti, we won’t get it for anyone.
The Department of Homeland Security fabricated the entire narrative. And they’re counting on you not to watch the video.
Don’t let them count on that.
Zev Shalev is an investigative journalist and founder of Narativ. You can support this work at narativ.org.
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