Anger Builds as Videos Show Protester Had Been Disarmed

With video footage and eyewitness accounts contradicting the Department of Homeland Security's account of the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old protester, demonstrators poured into the streets of Minneapolis on Sunday, federal officials defended agents' actions, and congressional Republicans joined the calls for an independent investigation of the killing. Analysis of video by the Washington Post, New York Times, NBC News, the AP, and CNN rebuts Trump administration claims that agents shot Alex Pretti as he approached them Saturday with murderous intent, brandishing a firearm. "Which side do you want to be on?" Gov. Tim Walz asked the public in a press conference. "The side of an all-powerful federal government that could kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the streets, or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such government." Developments involve:

• The family: Pretti's family members said they're "heartbroken but also very angry" at authorities over the federal account of the shooting. "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," the statement says. "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."
• Video evidence: NBC alone reviewed four videos taken by witnesses that clash with the federal government's explanations. Footage shows Pretti, who had a cellphone in his hand, trying to help a person the agents had shoved to the sidewalk and an agent pulling him away, then pepper-spraying him, per the Post. DHS said agents were trying to disarm Pretti; footage shows he didn't have a gun in either hand and was disarmed by an agent before he was shot. At no point in the videos reviewed by CNN is Pretti wielding a weapon. "Footage shows Mr. Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him," per the Times.

• In court: Local and state authorities said they've been blocked by federal forces from investigating the shooting, as they were three weeks ago when Renee Good was killed nearby. A federal judge has issued an order blocking the Trump administration from "destroying or altering evidence" related to the shooting, after state and county officials sued, per the AP. DHS denounced the suit as "a ridiculous attempt to divide the American people and distract from the fact that our law enforcement officers were attacked—and their lives were threatened." A court hearing is scheduled for Monday in St. Paul.
• GOP voices: More Republicans joined Democrats in insisting on an investigation, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski. "ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties," she said, per the AP. "There must be a full joint federal and state investigation," said Sen. Bill Cassidy, per the BBC.

• Border Patrol: Gregory Bovino said Sunday that investigators will discover how many shots were fired and where any weapons were, per the Times. "What I do know is this individual was on that scene, several minutes before that shooting, interfering with a lawful, legal, ethical law enforcement operatio," he said in a news conference. The Border Patrol official said the agents' mission Saturday was to detain an Ecuadorian migrant who faces charges including domestic assault. He likened disrupting the agents to interfering with police trying to stop a bank robbery.
• In the streets: Demonstrators marched again Sunday, at one point gathering in the bitter cold outside the Target Center, where the Minnesota Timberwolves were to play the Golden State Warriors in an NBA game that had been postponed. They carried flags and signs with messages including "ICE Out" and "Justice for Alex." A makeshift memorial outside the doughnut shop and a Malaysian restaurant where Pretti was killed drew a large crowd, per the Post, that left fresh flowers, photos of Pretti, votive candles, incense, and various mementos. Some of the mourners wept, and a man played the saxophone. One man told the BBC he spent the night at the spot to guard it. "I wanted to pay my respects, I wanted to protect the site and keep it here as long as possible," he said, adding, "It was worth it."