(DCNF)—Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday downplayed a video that allegedly shows Alex Pretti spitting on and confronting federal agents days before his fatal shooting.
Homeland Security Investigations is looking into the authenticity of a video, shared by The News Movement’s Dan Ming, that appears to show Pretti spitting on law enforcement officers and damaging a federal vehicle days before Border Patrol agents fatally shot him, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper pressed Frey on the clip and asked whether it alters the public’s understanding of what happened.
“Some people are going to see it as in one way, other people are going to see it in another way. Do you think it changes at all? To you, what does this video say,” Cooper asked Frey.
“I actually haven’t yet seen the video, but are we actually making the argument that Alex Pretti should be killed for something that happened like 11 days prior to the shooting itself?” Frey asked.
The mayor insisted that attention remain fixed on the moments surrounding the shooting rather than on an earlier encounter that occurred more than a week beforehand.
“I think we should be talking about the circumstances that actually led to the killing and what took place. And those circumstances, I mean, you can believe your own two eyes,” Frey added.
A Border Patrol agent fatally shot Pretti on Saturday during an anti-ICE protest, prompting scrutiny of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Noem accused him of acting as a domestic terrorist for allegedly approaching agents with a firearm.
Sources said Noem’s claims traced back to senior White House officials, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who called Pretti an “assassin” in an X post, while President Donald Trump later ordered a full investigation. Officials placed two agents on administrative leave Wednesday.
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