DOJ Opens Civil Rights Probe Into Border Patrol Shooting of ICU Nurse

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights division opened a federal investigation into the fatal Border Patrol officer-involved shooting of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday. “We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened,” Mr. Blanche said at a press conference. “There has to be circumstances or facts, or maybe unknown facts, but certainly circumstances, that warrant an investigation,” he added.Mr. Pretti, 37, was recording the arrest of a woman when he was pepper-sprayed and forced to the ground by a group of federal agents before being shot multiple times. A Sig Sauer 9mm handgun, for which Mr. Pretti had a state concealed carry permit, was reportedly removed from his person by a federal agent moments before two federal agents fired multiple shots at Mr. Pretti from close proximity. Both of those agents have since been placed on administrative leave.At first, the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation agency was leading the federal probe into Mr. Pretti’s death, a move that was considered a break from protocol as the agency does not typically investigate officer-involved shootings. The FBI has since taken charge of the investigation, with the HSI working in a support role, it was announced Friday. The Customs and Border Protection is conducting its own internal investigation into the shooting.“That’s like any investigation that the Department of Justice and the FBI does every day. It means we’re looking at video, talking to witnesses, trying to understand what happened,” Mr. Blanche said.The fallout from Mr. Pretti’s death has forced the Trump Administration into taking steps it appeared unwilling to consider just a week ago. There were concerns that the Justice Department would again decline a civil rights probe, as it did following the fatal ICE-involved shooting of Renee Good earlier this month. FBI agents initially drafted a warrant to search Ms. Good’s car to reconstruct the trajectory of the bullets fired by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, Jonathan Ross, during the January 7 incident in Minneapolis, according to reports. Instead, aides to Mr. Blanche allegedly ntervened by asking the U.S. Attorney’s office and FBI agents to redraft the search warrant to focus on whether Good, 37, intentionally attacked the officer with her Honda Pilot. That shift reportedly led Ms. Mergen to “resign in frustration,” according to reports.Six federal prosecutors resigned earlier this month in protest of the DOJ’s refusal to investigate Mr. Ross. One of them was Acting US Attorney Joseph H. Thompson, who who was overseeing the government’s sweeping investigation into alleged fraud involving Somali childcare providers.Relatives of Mr. Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, have since hired a former federal prosecutor who was part of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s 2021 trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who was convicted of the murder of George Floyd.On Wednesday, videos surfaced of a January 13 incident in which Mr. Pretti is seen screaming at federal officers, breaking a taillight of the car, and then getting into a physical struggle with officers before breaking free from them and escaping. “It was quite a display of abuse and anger, for all to see, crazed and out of control. The ICE Officer was calm and cool, not an easy thing to be under those circumstances!” President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform early Friday.Mr. Schleicer said Wednesday that the January 13 scuffle did not justify Mr. Pretti’s eventual death. Immediately following the shooting, a Border Patrol senior official, Greg Bovino, claimed that Mr. Pretti intended to “massacre law enforcement.” He has since been reassigned. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Mr. Pretti of committing an “act of domestic terrorism.” She added that Mr. Pretti was “brandishing” the firearm and intended to “kill law enforcement.” Videos taken of the shooting contradicted Ms. Noem’s original accusations, showing an officer removing his handgun from the waist area of his pants just before he was shot. Ms. Noem has since been forced to walk back her claim. During an appearance on Fox News Thursday, Ms. Noem said she was using “the best information we had at the time,” while also pointing to the “very chaotic” immediate aftermath of the shooting. “We were using the best information we had at the time, seeking to be transparent with the American people and get them what we knew to be true on the ground,” Ms. Noem added.Several lawmakers, including Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, have called for Ms. Noem’s resignation.This week, Mr. Trump dispatched his Border Czar, Tom Homan to oversee immigration enforcement in Minneapolis.

DOJ Opens Civil Rights Probe Into Border Patrol Shooting of ICU Nurse

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