The mystery surrounding the Minneapolis ICU nurse hailed as a saint-like hero by his supporters has taken a shocking dark turn.
A bombshell two-minute video – dubbed ‘THE PRETTI TAPES’ – has been released by a digital news outlet, capturing Alex Pretti in a chaotic street clash with federal agents just days before he was shot dead in a hail of bullets.
While grieving family and activists paint Pretti as a selfless caregiver who spent his days saving veterans’ lives at the VA hospital, this explosive footage paints a very different picture – one of a man allegedly ‘inciting’ the scene in a frenzied early-morning confrontation.
As the clip spreads like wildfire online, investigators are reportedly poring over phone records with timestamps showing Pretti had been tailing federal vehicles for more than an hour leading up to the incident… because it turns out, he may have been waiting for them.
The 37-year-old registered nurse, who worked grueling shifts in the intensive care unit caring for military veterans, was fatally shot by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on January 24, 2026, during what officials describe as a tense immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
Supporters quickly branded him a martyr – a ‘kind-hearted soul’ who ‘touched more lives than he ever realised’, according to his sister Micayla. Protests erupted, with nurses’ unions and civil rights groups decrying the killing as excessive force and state violence.
But now, this leaked video – emerging from an earlier encounter on January 13, just 11 days before his death – is flipping the narrative on its head.
In the grainy, bystander-captured footage, Pretti is seen shouting expletives at agents in an unmarked vehicle, before violently kicking the taillight of a federal car so hard that it shatters into pieces.
The dramatic clip shows an agent bursting out of the vehicle, tackling Pretti to the ground as chaos erupts on the street. Witnesses scream ‘Stop!’ while Pretti struggles against multiple officers pinning him down.
Some officials are now claiming the tape proves Pretti was ‘agitating’ and ‘escalating’ the situation – far from the peaceful protester his defenders describe.
‘This isn’t the image of a hero nurse de-escalating tensions,’ one law enforcement source told us. ‘He’s seen screaming, spitting near officers, and damaging government property. It raises serious questions about his mindset in the lead-up to the fatal shooting.’
Phone data allegedly shows Pretti tracking federal movements for over an hour before the January 13 clash – and possibly longer patterns in the days following. Was he monitoring agents? Stalking operations? The revelations have stunned even some of his supporters.
The ‘THE PRETTI TAPES’ – a nod to the infamous hidden recordings that have toppled public figures – was first teased on social media before exploding across platforms. In one angle, Pretti appears to briefly place his hand near an agent’s waist during the scuffle, moments before being pepper-sprayed and wrestled down.
Family attorney Steve Schleicher fired back, calling the prior incident a ‘violent assault’ by agents who ‘tackled him despite no threat’, leaving Pretti with a broken rib.
But critics point to the pattern: just days later, on that fateful Saturday morning, Pretti again confronted agents amid protests. Bystander videos show him stepping between an officer and a woman who had been pushed, only to be pepper-sprayed, tackled, and – according to officials – resisting disarmament.
In the deadly encounter, agents yelled ‘He’s got a gun!’ before firing multiple rounds from their Glock pistols. Forensic audio analysis reveals up to 10 shots in under five seconds. Pretti was hit at least three times in the back, with additional wounds to the chest and neck.
DHS officials, including Secretary Kristi Noem, have insisted Pretti arrived ‘to inflict maximum damage’ and kill law enforcement. President Trump himself weighed in on Truth Social, branding him an ‘agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist’ after viewing footage of the earlier car-kicking incident.
Pretti’s supporters counter with outrage, pointing to videos that appear to show him disarmed before shots rang out, holding only a phone while filming. He was licensed to carry a concealed weapon, they note – but insist he posed no immediate threat.
Nurses’ associations nationwide have rallied, with some calling for the abolition of ICE and accountability for the agents, who remain on paid leave.
Tributes pour in: bike rides honoring Pretti’s love of mountain biking, memorials at the VA hospital where he worked, and statements from unions decrying the ‘senseless’ loss of a caregiver.
Yet the ‘THE PRETTI TAPES’ have ignited a firestorm of debate. Is Alex Pretti a fallen hero caught in the crossfire of aggressive enforcement? Or a troubled activist whose escalating behavior led to tragedy?
As federal probes deepen – including congressional reviews of the shooting – and more phone data surfaces, one thing is clear: the full story of Alex Pretti is far from over.
The man who saved lives in the ICU may have met his end in a Minneapolis street at dawn – but the tapes suggest the night before was anything but peaceful.
