Newly released video showing Alex Pretti spitting at federal agents and damaging a government SUV days before he was fatally shot by Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis offers insight into his mindset leading up to the encounter, Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said Wednesday.
“He was an angry person who is expressing his rage with assault. Spitting at an officer is assault, obviously attacking a federal government vehicle and destroying the property, and then he seems to resist, to some extent, the arrest. It tells you a lot about his mindset,” Jarrett said on “Hannity.”
The footage, reportedly recorded Jan. 13 and published Wednesday by The News Movement, appears to show Pretti wearing clothing and glasses similar to those he had on when he was killed days later. In the video, the man shouts profanities at federal agents, spits in their direction and kicks the taillight of a government SUV, breaking it.
This is Alex Pretti a week ago, fighting with federal agents, spitting on them, and kicking out a taillight of a police vehicle.
While he’s armed.
— john jackson (@pvtjokerus) January 28, 2026
As agents exit the vehicle and approach him, the man repeatedly yells “f— you” and flashes double middle fingers before being taken to the ground.
Pretti’s family later confirmed to the Minnesota Star Tribune that the individual in the video is Pretti.
Jarrett said the video undercuts claims that the shooting occurred in a vacuum.
“Customs and Border Patrol were trying to fend off a protester. He gets involved, resists arrest. He’s committing crimes all over the place,” Jarrett said.
“It’s tragic that he lost his life, and it may be a case of mistaken perceptions when the shooting occurred, which invokes the imperfect self-defense, but that video tells a lot about Alex Pretti,” he added.
Pretti was shot and killed Jan. 24 during a targeted federal operation in Minneapolis. Video from the day of the shooting appeared to show him intervening as officers attempted to detain another individual, escalating into a physical confrontation before shots were fired.
The incident sparked protests and political backlash, with critics accusing federal authorities of excessive force and supporters arguing agents acted to protect themselves during a volatile situation.
Steve Schleicher, an attorney for the Pretti family, rejected any suggestion that the earlier incident was relevant to the shooting.
“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,” Schleicher said in a statement to Fox News.
“Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan. 24.”
Federal officials have said multiple investigations into the shooting are ongoing as protests and political scrutiny continue across Minnesota.
Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST >>
