All posts tagged: Prettis

Trump Immigration Officials Shown Video of Alex Pretti’s Death in Tense Senate Hearing

Trump Immigration Officials Shown Video of Alex Pretti’s Death in Tense Senate Hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The men tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda were made to watch a video of the shooting death of Alex Pretti in a slow, moment-by-moment analysis on Thursday by Sen. Rand Paul, who repeatedly cast doubt on the tactics used by federal officers and warned that the American public had lost trust in the country’s immigration agencies. It was a tense confrontation at a Senate hearing that was called to scrutinize the immigration chiefs as they carry out one of Trump’s signature policy and after the deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis over recent weeks at the hands of federal officers. Paul, who paused the video every few seconds to explain his interpretation of the events, argued that Pretti posed no threat to the officers and questioned why the situation culminated in the ICU nurse’s death. “He is retreating at every moment,” said Paul, speaking of Pretti’s behavior while officers pepper-sprayed him. “He’s trying to get away and he’s being sprayed in the face.” Paul’s comments were a …

Right-Wing Gun Enthusiasts and Extremists Are Working Overtime to Justify Alex Pretti’s Killing

Right-Wing Gun Enthusiasts and Extremists Are Working Overtime to Justify Alex Pretti’s Killing

Brandon Herrera, a prominent gun influencer with over 4 million followers on YouTube, said in a video posted this week that while it was unfortunate that Pretti died, ultimately the fault was his own. “Pretti didn’t deserve to die, but it also wasn’t just a baseless execution,” Herrera said, adding without evidence that Pretti’s purpose was to disrupt ICE operations. “If you’re interfering with arrests and things like that, that’s a crime. If you get in the fucking officer’s way, that will probably be escalated to physical force, whether it’s arresting you or just getting you the fuck out of the way, which then can lead to a tussle, which, if you’re armed, can lead to a fatal shooting.” He described the situation as “lawful but awful.” Herrera was joined in the video by former police officer and fellow gun influencer Cody Garrett, known online as Donut Operator. Both men took the opportunity to deride immigrants, with Herrera saying “every news outlet is going to jump onto this because it’s current thing and they’re going …

DOJ opens civil rights probe into Alex Pretti’s death in Minneapolis, deputy AG says

DOJ opens civil rights probe into Alex Pretti’s death in Minneapolis, deputy AG says

The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights probe into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday. Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday after a heated confrontation between authorities and protesters. The shooting, which came just weeks after Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by a federal officer while in her car, spurred intense backlash over the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Minnesota. “We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened,” Blanche said during a press conference Friday related to the latest release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Pretti’s family attorney, Steve Schleicher, said in a statement to NBC News that “the family’s focus is on a fair and impartial investigation that examines the facts around his murder.” The FBI has since taken a lead on the investigation into Pretti’s death, which was initially handled by the Department of …

Trump claims Alex Pretti’s “stock has gone way down” after new video

Trump claims Alex Pretti’s “stock has gone way down” after new video

President Donald Trump repeated claims that Alexi Pretti, a nurse killed by ICE officers in Minnesota, was an “agitator” and “perhaps insurrectionist.” Trump has repeatedly referred to protestors in Minnesota as paid agitators with no evidence. Trump posted his comments on the Veteran’s Affairs hospital ICU nurse early Friday. “Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer,” he wrote. A video of Pretti being pushed to the ground by ICE officers in a protest 11 days before his fatal shooting was released earlier this week. He was filmed yelling at officers as they entered their vehicles and kicking the car’s taillight twice, breaking it. Officers then left the car and wrestled Pretti to the ground, holding him for around 20 seconds before leaving. As officers held him down, other protestors yelled and jeered. When Pretti got up, there appeared to be a gun tucked into his waistband. He also had a gun, holstered on …

Border Patrol agents placed on leave over Pretti’s shooting | World | News

Border Patrol agents placed on leave over Pretti’s shooting | World | News

Two US Border Patrol agents involved in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minnesota have been placed on “administrative leave”, according to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. The intensive care nurse was shot dead on January 24.  A Customs and Border Protection official told Congress in a notice sent on Tuesday, January 28, that two officers had fired shots during the deadly shooting. The notice didn’t appear to confirm claims made by federal officials that the nurse was “brandishing” a gun at the time of the incident. On Wednesday, a Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson confirmed two agents involved in the incident had been placed on leave, adding this was “standard protocol”. It was not immediately clear when the agents, who have not been publicly named, had been put on leave. The standard protocol normally sees federal law enforcement agents involved in a shooting being placed on administrative leave during the course of the investigation into the incident. Explaining what this measure normally means, Scott Sweetow, a former special agent in charge for the Bureau …

Column: Facts about Alex Pretti’s death are undeniable. The White House is denying them anyway.

Column: Facts about Alex Pretti’s death are undeniable. The White House is denying them anyway.

The killing of Alex Pretti was unjust and unjustified. While protesting — a.k.a. “observing” or “interfering with” — deportation operations, the VA hospital ICU nurse came to the aid of two protesters, one of whom had been slammed to the ground by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent. With a phone in one hand, Pretti used the other hand, in vain, to protect his eyes while being pepper sprayed. Knocked to the ground, Pretti was repeatedly smashed in the face with the spray can, pummeled by multiple agents, disarmed of his holstered legal firearm and then shot nine or 10 times. Note the sequence. He was disarmed and then he was shot. That’s why the killing is undeniably unjust and unjustified. Unjust because Pretti didn’t deserve to die, even if he’d been fully “obstructing” federal agents, death is not a just price for that. But he wasn’t obstructing an agent from deporting an immigrant. He was obstructing an agent from further assaulting a woman in the street. The killing was unjustified because a gang …

At Sundance, Festivalgoers Grapple With Alex Pretti’s Killing: “We’re Sitting Here Talking About Movies”

At Sundance, Festivalgoers Grapple With Alex Pretti’s Killing: “We’re Sitting Here Talking About Movies”

Gifford doesn’t work in the film industry, but was attending the festival with a group of friends who do. “I’m actually trying to shield them” from the news, Gifford said. “These are all people who are very politically active, and their films are politically active. They’re documentarians. They have got to try to focus for this period of five days. I don’t have that obligation, so I am reading the news, which is why I’m crying in line.” Even those who tried to ignore the news this weekend might have found the task impossible. Reality rudely intruded on a private party thrown by talent agency CAA Friday night, where Democratic Florida congressman Maxwell Frost was allegedly punched by a man who crashed the event. Police say that 28-year-old Christian Joel Young allegedly told Frost, “We are going to deport you and your kind,” before yelling a racial slur and striking the representative. (Young, who has been denied bail, faces charges of aggravated burglary, assault, and assaulting an elected official.) On Sunday afternoon, Vanity Fair even …