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Medical examiner rules death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti a homicide
Medical Examiner confirmed that Alex died from multiple gunshot wounds inflicted by law enforcement
The official cause of death for Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse killed by federal agents during a Minneapolis protest on 24 January, has been confirmed as homicide.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s report, released on Monday, attributed the 37-year-old’s death to "multiple gunshot wounds" inflicted by law enforcement officers.
The shooting occurred during a Department of Homeland Security operation targeting a different individual.
While federal officials claimed Pretti "violently resisted" and approached officers with a handgun, video evidence analysed by The New York Times tells a different story.
The footage appears to show Pretti standing with both hands visible, holding only his mobile phone, before being pinned to the pavement.
A witness further claimed Pretti was simply "trying to help a woman" who had been pepper-sprayed by agents just seconds before he was shot.
The case is complicated by an altercation eleven days earlier, where Pretti was filmed kicking a federal vehicle and being shoved to the ground.
However, the family's lawyer, Steve Schleicher, argued, "Nothing that happened a full week before could have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24."
The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and the DHS have both launched investigations into the incident.
Meanwhile, Minnesota state authorities have not ruled out bringing their own criminal charges against the agents involved, as public outcry over the nurse’s death continues to mount.