Alex Pretti’s Cause of Death Revealed as Medical Examiner Rules Death a Homicide

The official cause of death for Alex Pretti — the man shot and killed by federal agents during protests over stepped-up immigration enforcement in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 — has been released.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office issued its findings on Monday, Feb. 2. The report lists Pretti’s cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death as homicide. The report also notes that Pretti was shot by law enforcement officer(s), and it does not list any other significant conditions that contributed to his death.

Pretti, 37, was killed on Jan. 24 while standing among a group of protesters with his phone in his hand. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the shooting happened as officers were conducting a “targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault.”

DHS has claimed Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and “violently resisted” attempts to disarm him, prompting an agent to fire “defensive shots.”

But footage analyzed by The New York Times appears to contradict that account. The video shows Pretti in a crowd with his hands visible; as agents deploy pepper spray, he appears to be holding a phone in one hand. Moments later, he is pinned on the sidewalk, and the footage does not appear to show him holding or drawing a weapon.

A witness later said Pretti was “trying to help a woman” who had been pepper–sprayed by agents in the moments before he was shot.

Separately, video recorded 11 days before Pretti’s death showed an altercation involving federal agents. In the clip, Pretti is seen kicking a federal vehicle before an agent pushes him to the ground.

In a statement from the family’s attorney, Steve Schleicher, he said: “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street — despite posing no threat to anyone — he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24.”

On Jan. 30, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced it would launch an investigation into Pretti’s death, reported NPR. DHS is also conducting a separate internal investigation.

In addition to the federal inquiries, Minnesota state authorities “haven’t ruled out” bringing charges against the agents involved, according to NPR.