Federal authorities said the slain man, Alex Pretti, had approached agents with a gun. But videos show Mr. Pretti was holding his phone, not a weapon, when they pulled him to the ground.


Alex Pretti was clearly visible holding a phone when agents first approached him, before pulling him to the ground and shooting him.Credit…dangjessie, via Instagram

Videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning.

The Department of Homeland Security said the episode began after a man “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and they tried to disarm him. The statement did not specify whether the gun was in the man’s hands or merely on his body.

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Footage shows Mr. Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him.

This is what the videos show, according to a Times analysis:

A small group of protesters stands in the street, speaking to a federal agent as whistles sound. Mr. Pretti appears to be filming the scene with his phone and directing traffic.

An agent begins shoving the demonstrators, and squirts pepper spray at their faces.

At this moment, Mr. Pretti has both hands clearly visible. One is holding his phone, while he holds the other up to protect himself from pepper spray. He moves to help one of the protesters who was sprayed, as other agents approach and pull him from behind.

Several agents tussle with Mr. Pretti before bringing him to his knees. He appears to resist as the agents grab his legs, push down on his back and strike him repeatedly.

The footage shows an agent approaching with empty hands and grabbing at Mr. Pretti as the others hold him down.

About eight seconds after he is pinned, agents yell that he has a gun, indicating that they may not have known he was armed until he was on the ground.

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The same agent who approached with empty hands pulls a gun from among the group that appears to match the profile of a firearm DHS said belonged to Mr. Pretti.

The agents appear to have him under their control, with his arms pinned near his head.

As the gun emerges from the melee, another agent aims his own firearm at Mr. Pretti’s back and appears to fire one shot at close range. He then appears to continue firing at Mr. Pretti, who collapses.

A third agent unholsters a weapon. Both agents appear to fire additional shots into Mr. Pretti as he lies motionless.

In total, at least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds.

Thomas Gibbons-Neff and McKinnon de Kuyper contributed reporting.

Devon Lum is a reporter on the Visual Investigations team at The Times, specializing in open-source techniques and visual analysis.

Haley Willis is a Times reporter with the Visual Investigations team, covering conflict, corruption and human rights.