Pretti Shooting Escalates Standoff Between Federal Agents, Minnesota Officials

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Luke Vargas (0:18)

Minneapolis reels after federal agents kill another US citizen.

Brenna Smith (0:23)

They shot a guy.

Brian O'Hara (0:26)

They have shot a man.

SPEAKER_1 (0:29)

They have shot a legal observer.

Luke Vargas (0:32)

We'll get reaction from around the country, plus the rest of the day's news, including a massive scandal at the very top of China's military leadership. It's Monday, January 26th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. President Trump says his administration is investigating the killing of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis over the weekend. Speaking to The Journal yesterday, Trump repeatedly declined to say whether the officer who shot Pretti had acted appropriately, though he also criticized Pretti for carrying a gun during protest activity, calling his 9mm semi-automatic handgun, very dangerous and unpredictable. Those comments come after the Department of Homeland Security alleged that Pretti violently resisted officers trying to disarm him, leading them to fire, quote, defensive shots. However, bystander footage contradicts that version of events, as Visual Investigations reporter Brenna Smith explains.

Brenna Smith (1:42)

The Wall Street Journal reviewed numerous bystander footage of Pretti's encounter with DHS agents, including before, during and after the shooting. What these videos show is, before the shooting, Pretti was seemingly with two other civilians in filming DHS agents with his phone. Eventually, after filming the agents, Pretti and two other civilians walk away, and one of the agents follows them and then shoves one of the people that Pretti seems to be with, and Pretti immediately puts himself between the fallen person and the officer, who then sprays a chemical agent on all three of them. And that's when things really start to kick off, and a crowd of DHS agents then swarms the civilians. They separate Pretti from the other two civilians that he was with, and bystander footage then shows one officer seemingly withdrawing a gun from Pretti, and soon after another officer begins to fire at him.

We spoke with one expert who confirmed that there were at least 10 shots within five seconds based on the available audio, and that they all seemed to come from a single semi-automatic firearm. After the shooting, by steward of footage also shows officers then shouting, where is the gun, as they're applying first aid to Pretti.

Luke Vargas (3:18)

Following Pretti's killing, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara ordered that his officers not leave the crime scene, despite being told that they weren't needed. The state of Minnesota's top criminal investigators then took on the case only for them to be blocked by federal officers, including after they obtained a signed search warrant. Speaking to CBS Face the Nation, O'Hara described federal operations in the city as having gotten out of hand.

Brian O'Hara (3:44)

We understand that for as long as there has been ICE, there has been immigration enforcement in Minnesota. The problem is not that enforcement is happening. It's clearly the manner in which these things are happening. These tactics are very obviously not safe, and it is generating a lot of outrage and fear in the community.

Luke Vargas (4:05)

A hearing is scheduled for today in Minnesota federal court in a suit brought by the state's attorney general that seeks to bar Homeland Security and Justice Department officials from destroying or concealing evidence related to Saturday's shooting. A Homeland Security spokeswoman defended the actions of immigration agents and described claims that evidence was destroyed as quote, an attempt to divide the American people. When pressed on how the investigation is being managed, Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News that more details would be provided in due course.

Kristi Noem (4:36)

I think the information is consistently coming out. When it's appropriate, when investigators deem that it is something that they can release that will give answers to people, that's exactly what President Trump and his administration want.

Luke Vargas (4:49)

In addition to widening a rift between divisions of law enforcement, Saturday's Killing is spurring gun rights advocates to issue rare criticism of the Trump administration following comments like this from FBI Director Cash Patel on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures.

Cash Patel (5:05)

You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple. You don't have that right to break the law and incite violence.

Luke Vargas (5:15)

The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus called Patel's statement completely incorrect on Minnesota law, while the National Rifle Administration said officials shouldn't be demonizing law-abiding citizens. Meanwhile, back in Washington, Senate Democrats angry over events in Minnesota say they won't vote for a government funding package unless it includes major changes to its homeland security provisions, including constraints on DHS's immigration enforcement activities and more oversight. That's teeing up a potential government shutdown this coming weekend, something that many Senate Democrats had initially sought to avoid after last year's record-setting funding lapse. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar criticized the behavior of ICE and US. Border Patrol and called on her colleagues across the aisle to work with Democrats.