Federal agents tackled him, broke his rib: What happened before ICE shot Alex Pretti

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot dead by ICE, suffered a broken rib during a previous encounter with federal agents, a week before his death.

A memo sent earlier this month to agents temporarily assigned to the city asked them to “capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form,” according to correspondence reviewed by CNN.


Pretti’s previous encounter reflected the aggressive approach federal agents took with observers and protesters, a philosophy underscored by the request for agents to collect information about protesters whose activities were broadly protected by the First Amendment.

The Department of Homeland Security repeatedly warned of threats against federal law enforcement officers during immigration enforcement operations and criticised protesters who they argued impeded those operations. On Tuesday, the department also publicised an online tip form to share information about people allegedly harassing ICE officers.

“When our law enforcement encounter a violent agitator who is breaking the law, obstructing law enforcement or assaulting them, our law enforcement make records to advance prosecution. This is not ground breaking, it is standard protocol,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement.

The earlier incident started when Pretti stopped his car after observing ICE agents chasing what he described as a family on foot, and began shouting and blowing his whistle, according to a source who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution.

Pretti later told the source that five agents tackled him and one leaned on his back, an encounter that left him with a broken rib. The agents quickly released him at the scene.

“That day, he thought he was going to die,” said the source.

Pretti was later given medication consistent with treating a broken rib, according to records reviewed by CNN.

Earlier this month, a DHS official in Minneapolis sent a memo to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations officers assigned to the state on temporary duty asking them to use a form to input information on protesters and agitators.

The form, titled “intel collection non-arrests”, allowed agents to fill in personal information of agitators and protesters who they encountered. It remained unclear whether other agencies in Minnesota also used the form.

Previously, agents informally shared information about protesters and agitators with each other, the memo said.

Pretti’s name was known to federal agents, according to a source, though it remained unclear whether the new intake form was used to share his information.

It also remained unclear whether the federal agents who encountered Pretti on Saturday recognised him before they confronted him, eventually wrestling him to the ground, taking a gun from his waistband and then fatally shooting him.

Some Trump officials spoke publicly about the idea of creating a database of protesters, though it remained unclear what ICE did with the information collected through the form circulated to agents in Minneapolis.