Anti-ICE protestor Alex Pretti's death confirmed as homicide by coroner
Alex Pretti's death has been confirmed as a homicide after being fatally shot by federal agents on 24 January.
The 37-year-old was shot and killed in Minnesota's capital Minneapolis, amid widespread unrest against increased Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city.
Initial statements from the Department of Homeland Security alleged that federal agents had fired their weapons in an act of 'self-defence' – a claim which has since been heavily contested by eye-witness accounts and video footage.
Pretti's cause of death has now been confirmed as 'homicide' by 'multiple gunshot wounds', according to a report by Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office, via PEOPLE.
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The report also noted that Pretti was 'shot by law enforcement officer(s)' with no other 'significant conditions' listed.
Pretti's death was the second fatal shooting to take place in Minneapolis, occurring just weeks after mother-of-three Renee Good was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
Footage released from the moments leading up to the Pretti's death showed the ICU nurse engaged in a confrontation with federal agents after they pepper sprayed a female protestor.
He was then pinned to the ground by several officers and fatally shot, contradicting initial claims by the Trump administration which suggested he'd approached officers with a firearm.
It was later revealed that Pretti was a registered firearms owner and had been carrying a gun at the time of his death, however, the ICU nurse did not unholster the weapon before agents confiscated it from his body.
His death is now being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division as well as the Department of Homeland Security, while NPR added that law enforcement in Minnesota 'hadn't ruled out' bringing charges against the agents responsible for shooting Pretti.
The two border patrol officers involved in the shooting of Pretti have since been placed on leave, a move which Scott Sweetow, a former special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, dubbed as 'protection' for the agents.
Meanwhile footage showing Pretti engaged in a confrontation with ICE agents in the weeks leading up to his death has also been released.
The clip, which was published by online outlet The News Movement, shows officers forcing Pretti to the ground during a tense confrontation at a protest.
It's unclear what happened in the moments prior, the video shows Pretti yelling at agents and kicking the taillight of a vehicle.
The man in the footage was later confirmed to be Pretti by his family, with a statement issued on behalf of his family saying it did not justify his killing.
"A week before Alex was gunned down in the street — despite posing no threat to anyone — he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents," Steve Schleicher, the attorney for the Pretti family, said in a statement given to PEOPLE.
"Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24."
Brenna Cooper