A clear, factual breakdown comparing official federal claims about the shooting of Alex Pretti

Ian Miller
Jan 27
3 min read

🎯 Official Federal Claims vs. Video & Independent Evidence

What Officials Have Claimed	What Video & Independent Reporting Shows
Pretti approached agents with a handgun and violently resisted. — DHS & Greg Bovino said he had a 9 mm firearm and resisted attempts to disarm him.	Multiple bystander videos show Pretti holding a cellphone before confrontation. No video shows him brandishing or firing a weapon before being grabbed.
Pretti posed an imminent threat to agents. — Officials described him as dangerous and intent on harm.	Video shows him pinned to the ground and then shot. Some footage suggests an agent removed a gun from his waistband just before shots were fired.
Agents responded defensively. — Federal narrative frames shooting as justified.	Use-of-force experts say video alone cannot justify the federal narrative and raise questions about threat level once Pretti was restrained.
Medical aid was promptly rendered. — Officials asserted this.	Eyewitness declarations dispute this, saying no CPR or medical treatment was immediately given.
Pretti allegedly had no ID and multiple magazines.	No video shows any effort by agents to ask for ID or confirm magazines, and these claims are unverified in available footage.

📌 Summary: The publicly available bystander videos and multiple news outlets have documented key parts of the encounter that directly contradict major federal claims (e.g., him brandishing a firearm before being shot). Officials have not released all evidence (like body-camera or Pretti’s own phone footage) for outside review.

🔍 Rumors & Claims Online — Verified or Not?

Claim	Status / Evidence
Pretti had a gun in his hands and pointed it at agents.	❌ Not shown in publicly available videos. Evidence instead shows him holding a phone before being tackled, with no weapon visible.
Agents pulled him to the ground and then shot him while he was restrained.	⚠️ Partially supported by video. Multiple clips show a struggle, and some footage appears to show an agent removing a gun from his waistband before shots were fired.
Pretti was disarmed before being shot.	⚠️ Video suggests this may have happened, with an agent holding a firearm taken from Pretti just before shots, but full context (timing & sequence) isn’t fully verified yet.
Officials are hiding footage to cover up wrongdoing.	❓ Unverified. It’s true that not all footage has been released publicly or shared with state investigators yet, and legal actions are underway to preserve evidence — but intentional cover-up is an allegation, not confirmed fact.
Agents’ identities are being permanently concealed to prevent accountability.	❓ Unverified. Federal officials have not publicly released names and stated safety and doxing concerns; whether they’ll ever be released isn’t confirmed.
The shooting was part of a broader criminal conspiracy or cover-up.	❌ No credible evidence supports this. Investigations and legal processes continue; claims of coordinated criminal cover-up are unsupported in mainstream reporting.
Minnesota officials are being blocked from investigating.	⚠️ Partially verified. State investigators have faced challenges accessing scenes and evidence, and a federal judge ordered evidence preserved.

📌 Bottom Line — What We Know vs. What We Don’t

✔ Confirmed or strongly supported

Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents during a January 24 operation in Minneapolis.
Bystander videos show he was holding a phone, not a gun, prior to being wrestled to the ground.
Multiple news outlets report that some official claims are contradicted by video.
A federal judge ordered that evidence must not be destroyed.

❓ Still unverified / incomplete

Whether Pretti ever drew or brandished a firearm in a way that justified the shooting (beyond legal carry).
The full internal investigation of the shooting — including body-cam and phone footage — has not been publicly released.
Names and identities of agents who fired have not been publicly disclosed.

❌ Not backed by reputable sources

Claims that this event is definitively a criminal cover-up orchestrated by officials.
Assertions that Pretti was obviously a threat before being shot.

🧠 What This Means

Right now, the situation is highly contested:

Official narratives say Pretti posed a threat and agents responded appropriately.
Video footage and independent reporting strongly contradict that narrative in key ways, especially regarding whether Pretti was armed or threatening at the moment force was used.

The legal and investigative process is still ongoing, and more evidence (e.g., unreleased footage, forensic reports) could shift understanding once it’s made public or reviewed in court.