Two of the federal agents involved in the shooting of Alex Pretti during a federal enforcement operation last weekend have been placed on administrative leave, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson confirmed to the Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan. 28.
In a one-sentence statement, a CBP spokesperson said: “The two officers involved are on administrative leave. This is standard protocol.”
Although the statement did not specify that the two were the ones who shot Pretti, a preliminary report from federal investigators provided to members of Congress says two officers — a Border Patrol agent and a CBP officer — fired their guns during a chaotic scuffle involving several agents that was also recorded from multiple angles by bystanders.
The decision comes as federal authorities face growing scrutiny after two people were fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis within weeks of each other.
Pretti, 37, a nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center, was shot Jan. 24 as ICE agents attempted to detain someone on a busy street lined with restaurants. Video and witness accounts show Pretti recording the encounter and moving toward agents after a woman was shoved. Agents then sprayed him in the face with a chemical irritant, threw him to the pavement and shot him 10 times at close range.
Federal officials have publicly defended the shooting as justified, but those claims have been undercut by witness testimony and video from the scene, which has circulated widely and fueled protests and calls for accountability.
The agents’ leave status had not been publicly disclosed in the days immediately following the shooting.
Pretti’s death followed another fatal ICE shooting earlier this month. On Jan. 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good during a separate enforcement action.
