By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER and PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the death of Minnesota nurse Alex Pretti following being shot and killed by federal immigration agents.
The new probe pits Attorney General Pam Bondi’s lawyers against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) SecretaryKristi Noem, who has defended her agents by calling Pretti a terrorist, while DOJ investigators examine whether his civil rights were violated.
The probe was announced by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche during a Friday morning press conference regarding the Jeffrey Epsteinfiles.
The announcement marks a total reversal from the Trump administration’s approach to the case, which officials originally indicated would be confined to a narrow DHS review focused on use-of-force by the agents.
‘There are thousands, unfortunately, of law enforcement events every year where somebody is shot,’ Blanche said.
Pretti, 37, was shot dead by Border Patrol agents after filming deportation operations on January 17.
An intensive care unit nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Pretti was armed with a handgun and multiple magazines full of ammunition when he was apprehended by half a dozen agents.
Though he had a concealed carry permit, Pretti was shot around 10 times after officers claimed he resisted arrest, leading to a scuffle with law enforcement.
Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by U.S. immigration agents as they tried to detain him in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Bondi’s staff will now be investigating any wrongdoing by Noem’s agents
Pretti was pepper-sprayed during the incident and agents can be heard talking about the nurse being armed before they shot him. However, one of the agents disarmed Pretti shortly before he was shot.
Noem claimed that Pretti brandished his weapon to law enforcement during the interaction, but bystander video does not show any such brandishing, and a preliminary internal DHS investigation also found that Pretti did not flash his firearm.
‘FBI is now leading the Pretti investigation with HSI supporting,’ a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. ‘This is separate from the CBP investigation.’
Noem has found herself increasingly isolated in Trump’s cabinet amid the fallout from the fatal shootings Pretti and Reene Good, a mother of three.
Noem’s public rhetoric after the shooting intensified scrutiny of her judgment and command of the department. She accused Pretti of being an armed domestic terrorist seeking to do harm to law enforcement.
Footage later emerged showing Border Patrol agents removed Pretti’s holstered gun before shooting the ICU nurse dead.
Moreover, DHS insiders tell the Daily Mail she has lost the confidence of large swaths of rank-and-file ICE and Border Patrol officials, who accuse her of sidelining experienced leadership, chasing media-driven enforcement actions, and creating confusion on the ground.
Trump, in response, installed her longtime rival, Border Czar Tom Homan, to oversee immigration operations in Minneapolis while Noem engages in a blame game with Stephen Miller.
The DOJ’s new probe into the death of Pretti contrasts from their response from Good’s fatal shooting earlier this month.
The Justice Department refused to open a civil rights investigation into Good’s shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
At the time, Blanche stated there was no basis for an investigation.