Federal officials said Alex Pretti, 37, “approached” officers with a handgun and intended to kill them. Videos don’t appear to show Pretti with a firearm in his hand before he was shot.

Eyewitness videos showing at least one federal agent shooting and killing Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis appear to counter the Trump administration’s description of events, presenting two starkly different narratives.

Shortly after the shooting, federal officials said agents had acted in self-defense during a violent altercation Saturday morning. Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun,” Kristi Noem said, adding officers “attempted to disarm” him and he “violently resisted.” Donald Trump shared a picture of what he said was “the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go.” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said Pretti “tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.”

But at least four different videos of the encounter — filmed by eyewitnesses and verified and analyzed by NBC News — run counter to some of the administration’s statements. The videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a weapon during the skirmish that led to his death. The footage shows him coming to the aid of a person federal agents pushed before the encounter.

  • barnaclebutt@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    They murdered him using incompetent and inexperienced mouth breathing idiots that shot him in the back as they were already Rodney Kinging him. We can all see it happen. What they say happened is inconsequential. If there is any justice left those agents and the people covering it up would to go to jail.