Witnesses to Alex Pretti shooting were detained for hours, report says

Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News on Jan 26, 2026

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Several people who witnessed federal agents shoot and kill Minnesota man Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis were detained for several hours in a federal building, according to a report published Monday.

One of the witnesses, identified only as Javier, told local CBS affiliate WCCO that he and about two dozen other people were held in federal custody after the shooting.

“It just sucks the life out of you. You lose all hope,” he told the station.

The witnesses were not charged and were released from federal custody Saturday night.

A Border Patrol agent fatally shot Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, while he was protesting President Trump’s immigration crackdown on Saturday morning. Multiple videos from the scene show masked federal agents approaching Pretti, shoving him to the ground, removing a gun from his waist and then shooting him dead.

Some of the agents were wearing body-cameras that recorded the killing, but the videos have not been publicly released, NBC News reported Monday.

Pro-immigrant protesters have gathered daily in Minnesota since Trump’s administration began focusing on the state and rounding up immigrants. Federal agents also shot and killed a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, on Jan. 7, fueling the demonstrations even further.

The crackdown is the subject of several court cases and negotiations between the Trump administration and the state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz. Additional witness statements from Saturday’s killing were added to a lawsuit against the operation.

Protests have been widespread but centered on the Whipple Building, a federal office, detention center and courthouse in Minnesota where federal agents have been stationed since they arrived in the state. Javier told WCCO it was also where the witnesses were detained after agents killed Pretti.

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