Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot and killed in Minneapolis by federal agents, was already known to authorities and had suffered a broken rib during an earlier clash with federal officers about a week before the shooting, according to reports.
Pretti, an ICU nurse, told a friend that he had seen ICE agents chasing what he believed was a family on foot and stopped his car during that earlier incident about a week before he was shot and killed last Saturday. He said he stopped his car and started yelling and blowing a whistle, after which five agents rushed in and tackled him, according to the source.
Victim Was Known to Feds
Pretti said that one of the agents broke his rib by putting pressure on his back, according to his friend. "That day, he thought he was going to die," the source said, adding that Pretti had been released by agents at the scene.
Federal immigration officials had been keeping records on Pretti, along with other anti-ICE demonstrators in Minneapolis in recent weeks.
A memo circulated this month to agents sent to the city instructed them to "capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form," the network reported.
While federal agents were aware of Pretti's name, the source said it is unclear whether his details were included in the new intake form.
It is also unclear whether Pretti recognized the federal agents — or if they recognized him — during the confrontation in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Death Becomes Mystery
Video footage appears to show him being wrestled to the ground by agents before one of them removes Pretti's gun from his waistband and another fatally shoots um. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied that the agency has a database of alleged domestic terrorists.
"We do, of course, monitor and investigate and refer all threats, assaults and obstruction of our officers to the appropriate law enforcement," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN in relation to a separate incident involving a federal agent in Maine.
FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency is looking into encrypted group chats on the Signal app that activists allegedly use to share information about ICE activities.
He warned on a conservative podcast that these kinds of group chats can "create a scenario that illegally entraps and puts law enforcement in harm's way."
