Following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026, new footage (archived) surfaced allegedly showing an altercation between Pretti and federal agents 11 days before his killing.
For example, a conservative strategist shared a video on X, writing:
MUST WATCH: Footage of an a man who looks like Alex Pretti with a gun in his waistband, spitting on and attacking federal law enforcement officers and kicking the tail light of their vehicle on January 13.
(X user @SteveGuest)
The footage also circulated on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), Reddit (archived) and Bluesky (archived), with users speculating about its authenticity. They wondered whether it was generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and whether the person in the video was really Pretti. Snopes readers also wrote in and searched our site to find out more about the clip.
The footage was authentic — in other words, it was not the product of artificial intelligence (AI) software, nor digital editing — and it indeed showed Pretti confronting federal immigration agents at a South Minneapolis intersection on Jan. 13, 2026. We have rated this claim true.
Neither the
As the footage circulated, credible news outlets including The Associated Press and the Minnesota Star Tribune reported a spokesperson for Pretti's family and its lawyer Steve Sleicher
Replying to Snopes' request for comment
A week before Alex was gunned down in the street – despite posing no threat to anyone – he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex's killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24.
We also reached out to Anthony Cotton, a lawyer reportedly hired to represent Pretti's younger sister, to
The identities of the federal officers who were involved in the confrontation on Jan. 13, as well as the Border Patrol officers who were involved in Pretti's killing 11 days later, are unknown. In other words, it's not known if any of them are the same.
The Border Patrol officers who fired their guns during the fatal shooting have been placed on administrative leave, according to news reports citing DHS.
Footage shows confrontation from multiple angles
At least three videos show Pretti's encounter with federal agents 11 days before his death, Jan. 13, 2026. The events that preceded the confrontation were unknown. In other words, it was not clear why federal agents were at the intersection; what they did or said before the altercation with Pretti, and what exactly triggered the confrontation. Also unknown was the number of people in the area at the time.
Before Pretti's family and its lawyer confirmed the footage's authenticity in statements to journalists, the BBC reported that it had identified Pretti in one of the videos — footage that was recorded by The News Movement (archived), an independent news outlet owned by the media company Caliber.
During the BBC's "News at Ten" program (time code 14:02) on Jan. 28,
In a clip about the video on the BBC's website, Atkins pointed to reporting by CBS News, in which a representative for Pretti's family confirmed the video's authenticity. (It was unknown whether that was the same spokesperson who connected with The Associated Press and Star Tribune about the footage.)
The Associated Press published screenshots from another video of the confrontation, on which the Star Tribune originally reported.
A third video (archived), posted by a YouTube channel named "RT," is a longer clip of the same scene. In that footage, Pretti runs into frame about 17 minutes after the recording starts and appears to yell at agents, "What the f*** are you doing here? F*** you! Get the f*** out of here!"
Pretti continues to yell at the agents and, around the video's time code 17:22, he appears to spit into a vehicle being driven by federal agents. As the vehicle drives away, the video allegedly shows Pretti kicking at the car, dislodging its taillight.
The videos posted by The News Movement and RT then show agents parking, exiting the vehicle, grabbing Pretti and dragging him to the ground. A short scuffle ensues, after which the agents seemingly release him.
The News Movement, The Associated Press and BBC reported the video appeared to show Pretti carrying a gun in his waistband. He did not appear to reach for it, nor did federal agents appear to see it, based on those outlets' and Snopes' analysis of the footage. The Associated Press reported:
When he turns his back to the camera, what appears to be a handgun is visible in his waistband. At no point do the videos show Pretti reaching for the gun and it is unclear whether the federal agents saw it.
A person with knowledge of the incident confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the videos is Pretti and that he had told his family of the confrontation. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters sensitive to the family.
Pretti was a "lawful gun owner with a permit to carry," according to Minneapolis police Chief Brian O'Hara. Minnesota law and federal law all allow licensed gun owners to carry firearms in almost all public spaces, as Snopes has previously reported.
The News Movement reported federal agents fired tear gas and pepper balls into a crowd of bystanders during the altercation. Both The News Movement and
Senior reporter Jordan Liles contributed to this report.