The harrowing development leading up to 37-year-old American citizen Alex Pretti being fatally shot by US immigration authorities in Minneapolis on Saturday morning (US time) was all caught on camera. The much-talked-about visuals, surfacing online from different angles, are equally terrifying with each view.

In addition to encapsulating the hostile conditions emerging in the state of Minnesota amid the ongoing widespread Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, the video has also fuelled the debate between the Department of Homeland Security and local authorities.

Both sides have opted to paint the picture in totally different lights, with the Donald Trump administration defending federal officers. On the flip side, Minnesota officials, including Governor Tim Walz, have slammed the authorities for portraying Pretti as a “domestic terrorist.”

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Pretti’s death marks the second fatal shooting, and third overall shooting, involving federal agents in Minneapolis this month. Just weeks ago, Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three, was shot dead by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

Minneapolis Alex Pretti shooting: Videos show moment he was shot dead

On Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said on X that the confrontation between them and a Minneapolis man began after he “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” while they were “conducting a targeted operation… against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault.”

Although their statement highlights that the man had a handgun in his possession, it fails to accurately convey whether Pretti had it in his hands or merely on his body at the time of the incident.

Footage shared online, however, suggested otherwise, as it only showed the Minneapolis man, now ID’d as a registered ICU nurse, holding a phone. Among the various clips emerging on X, visuals initially captured a group of protesters in the street. Most of them were heard blowing whistles to signal ICE presence in the area.

In one such video that outrightly captured the moment Pretti was shot dead, the US-born man comes up on camera while he appears to be filming with his phone and directing the traffic. As the camera angle pans in and out, federal agents are seen shoving a person onto the ground at one point. Eventually, they also start using what seems to be pepper spray on the person.

At this point during the altercation, the Minneapolis man steps in between the other person and a federal agent, while more and more officers start gathering onto the scene. Multiple officers are then seen pulling Pretti away and wrestle him onto the ground as they proceed to spray him with chemical agents as well.

During the course of the altercation, Pretti is not seen wielding any weapon. He is simply shown holding up his phone until the altercation gets too violent. Seconds after he is pinned down, agents yell that he has a gun. As also analysed by the New York Times, the video then shows an agent coming up to the group with empty hands. He then pulls a gun from among the group. The weapon in question appears to match the firearm profile detailed by DHS.

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Within the next few seconds, about half a dozen agents are spotted at the scene, as many of them have Pretti pinned down and under control. Moments later, an agent takes aim at the man with his own firearm at close range. A gunshot is heard, while several more follow within seconds. Pretti ultimately collapses on the scene.

As per the NYT analysis of the clip, at least 10 shots appear to have been fired within the matter of five seconds.

More about another man shot by ICE in Minneapolis

The shooting victim has been identified as Alex Jeffrey Pretti. As per the Associated Press, he was an American citizen born in Illinois. The 37-year-old did not have any criminal record and was a registered nurse who worked in the ICU at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis, as per multiple US reports.

His family has since told the AP that Pretti particularly doubled down on anti-ICE activism following Renee Good’s fatal shooting weeks ago. 

The 37-year-old ICU nurse’s family has since slammed the Donald Trump administration for pushing “sickening lies” about Pretti, as per a statement shared with CNN. Taking apart DHS’ claims that Pretti was obstructing an federal operation and “brandishing” a weapon, the family’s statement began: “We are heartbroken but also very angry.”

“Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital,” the family told CNN. “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.”

Urging for authorities to “get the truth out,” they added, The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed.”