The public narrative surrounding the death of Alex Pretti took a sharp turn this week after newly surfaced video complicated earlier portrayals of the Minneapolis man as an unblemished victim of federal force.
Just days before footage emerged showing Pretti spitting at and kicking federal immigration officers, a CNN panelist and co-host of The View had described him in glowing, almost idealized terms, calling him “the perfect guy” and someone any parent would want their child to become.
Appearing on CNN’s NewsNight, Ana Navarro praised Pretti as a model citizen, saying he was the type of man she would want her daughter to date and her son to emulate. She described him as a “decent human being” devoted to serving others, particularly veterans, and insisted that there was “nothing” about him that could be criticized.
Her comments reflected a broader media consensus that quickly formed after Pretti was killed by Border Patrol agents on Jan. 24, casting him as a virtuous figure whose death symbolized alleged excesses of immigration enforcement.
Pretti, an ICU nurse who worked with veterans, was shot during a confrontation with federal agents while protesting immigration enforcement. Body camera footage from that encounter showed agents discovering and removing a pistol from his waistband before he was shot.
State officials later confirmed that Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a valid permit to carry. The shooting ignited a national debate, with critics questioning whether the use of force was justified and some openly labeling the killing a murder.
That debate shifted with the release of an earlier video from Jan. 13, published by The News Movement and confirmed by Pretti’s family. The clip shows Pretti at a separate protest, yelling profanities, spitting toward federal agents, and kicking the taillight of a government SUV hard enough to damage it. He repeatedly flashes his middle finger at officers and shouts insults as they attempt to leave the area. Despite the aggressive behavior captured on video, Pretti was not arrested at the time.
The resurfaced footage stands in stark contrast to the uniformly positive depictions offered in the immediate aftermath of his death. While it does not resolve the legal or moral questions surrounding the Jan. 24 shooting, it adds context that had been absent from much of the early coverage and commentary.
Pretti’s family and their attorney have pushed back strongly against any suggestion that the earlier incident bears on his death. Their lawyer argued that nothing that occurred a week prior could justify what happened later, maintaining that Pretti posed no threat when he was killed.
