FBI Takes Over Investigation Into Border Patrol Killing Of Minneapolis ICU Nurse Alex Pretti

The FBI has taken over the probe into the fatal Jan. 24 shooting of Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol officers.

“President Donald Trump took to social media and called Alex Pretti an “agitator and perhaps, insurrectionist” in a post on Truth Social early on Friday”

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The Department of Homeland Security disclosed the change on Friday.

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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the shift during a Fox News interview.

She said Homeland Security Investigations, which DHS had earlier said would lead, will now support the FBI.

Customs and Border Protection is conducting a separate internal review.

DHS did not say when or why the leadership change was made.

Two agents involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave.

Officials provided only a limited explanation for the transfer of investigative responsibility.

Officials say HSI will support the FBI while CBP conducts its own internal review.

Two Border Patrol agents have been placed on administrative leave pending the inquiries.

Al Jazeera

Multiple outlets report DHS initially directed HSI to lead the probe before the FBI took charge.

The department has not publicly explained the timing or rationale for the change.

The FBI’s takeover has been framed by some local outlets as routine oversight and by congressional voices as a response to public concern and calls for an independent review.

This outlines who is doing what and the ambiguity over motive and timing.

The FBI takeover comes amid renewed scrutiny after newly released Jan. 13 footage shows Alex Pretti in a separate confrontation with federal immigration agents — shouting, spitting, kicking out a taillight and being tackled to the ground — roughly 11 days before he was killed.

“The article reports that Thomas Homan — long criticized by the left and once called “the heart of cruelty” by HUD Secretary Julian Castro — has been asked to lead a federal immigration operation in Minnesota, and governors Tim Walz and Mayor Frey were unexpectedly receptive”

American Center for Law and Justice

Multiple outlets report the clip briefly shows what appears to be a handgun in Pretti's waistband after his coat came off, though the videos do not show him reaching for it or confirm whether officers saw the weapon.

The footage has been confirmed by Pretti's family and widely circulated online, intensifying debate over whether the earlier, nonlethal encounter is relevant to the later use of deadly force.

The summary focuses on what the Jan. 13 footage shows and the immediate evidentiary questions.

The release of the Jan. 13 videos and the FBI's assumption of the investigation sharpened political and public responses.

President Trump reposted one of the clips and called Pretti an "agitator," a move many outlets said intensified partisan debate.

Associated Press

Others called for transparency and independent review, with senators and local officials demanding that federal agents be withdrawn or held accountable.

Pretti's family and lawyers denounced official portrayals that framed him as a violent threat and said an earlier scuffle does not justify the later killing.

Legal experts, family lawyers and some reporters stress that the Jan. 13 encounter — while showing Pretti in a confrontation and revealing a weapon in his waistband — does not itself resolve whether the Jan. 24 shooting was lawful.

“Two videos from the week before the shooting surfaced: one filmed by Minneapolis attorney Max Shapiro and published by the Minnesota Star Tribune (later obtained by the AP), and another by a crew from The News Movement”

Associated Press

Law professors cited in coverage say use-of-force law depends on what officers reasonably perceived at the moment of the shooting, and there's no public evidence the shooters knew of the earlier altercation.

Associated Press

DHS has stated it is reviewing footage and the FBI-led investigation aims to establish facts about both encounters; however, outlets note unresolved questions including whether the same agents were involved in both incidents and why DHS shifted investigative leadership.

This paragraph outlines legal and evidentiary uncertainties.