Alex Pretti busted the tail light of a federal agent’s SUV days before he was shot to death. The tense exchange—while he was armed—was captured on camera.

The Minneapolis ICU nurse, who was killed by Customs and Border Protection officers on Saturday, appears in a video reportedly recorded on January 13 and published by The News Movement. In the video, Pretti is wearing an outfit remarkably similar to the one he wore 11 days later, when he was fatally shot.

The clip begins with Pretti yelling and seemingly spitting on the vehicle as federal officers drive away from the area. He then lifts his foot and kicks, shattering the rear right tail light, leaving it hanging by its cords. Agents quickly jump out of the SUV and chase Pretti down, slamming him to the ground. A crowd gathers around them, screaming at the agents.

Inexplicably, after the tense altercation ends and Pretti manages to get back on his feet, the agents simply let him go, leaving him on the street corner despite the damage he caused to the vehicle.

A representative for the Pretti family told TMZ that they were aware of the incident on January 13. The rep added that Alex sustained injuries but did not seek medical care.

As Pretti pulls away from the agents in the video, the butt of a handgun is visible in the rear waistband of his pants—just as it was during his fatal encounter with federal officers.

Steve Schleicher, the attorney for the Pretti family, told TMZ, “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. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24.”

As previously reported, 11 days after the initial clash, federal agents again wrestled Pretti to the ground on a city street. During this confrontation, a Border Patrol agent and a Customs and Border Protection officer fired a series of shots at Pretti, who died at the scene.

In the days following the killing, protests have erupted across Minnesota and other parts of the country. Meanwhile, Trump administration officials have publicly labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist.”
https://www.tmz.com/2026/01/28/alex-pretti-kicks-agent-car-days-before-killing/