Jake Tapper tore into the video of the latest fatal shooting by a federal agent in Minneapolis—and much of what Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said doesn’t match what the footage shows.
The CNN host posted a network-obtained video of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen Alex Pretti on Saturday, pairing the footage with Noem’s description of the incident and asking viewers to judge whether her account matches what they see in the video.
“The first image you’re going to see is him [Alex Pretti] standing in the middle of the street in Minneapolis holding his cell phone, filming these federal agents,” Tapper said in his video posted on X on Saturday.
Tapper then presented the video of the scene in Minneapolis, showing Pretti holding his cell phone as he approached the federal agents—a scene Noem has described as an individual approaching “US border patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun,” even though no handgun is clearly visible in the footage.
Noem is then heard saying that “the officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently,” as the video shows agents tackling Pretti to the ground, spraying him with a chemical agent, and then firing multiple shots while he appears restrained—what Noem described as “defensive shots.”
“Still a lot of unanswered questions, but just tell me what you think did what you saw on that video square with how Secretary Noem described it?” Tapper asked his followers.
The shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis marks the second fatal incident involving federal agents in the city this month, coming amid what the Trump administration has described as the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever carried out in Minnesota.
On Jan. 7, 37‑year‑old mother of three Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross after she dropped her son off at school, an incident that sparked large anti‑ICE protests across Minneapolis.
Following the shooting of Good, similar, varied interpretations of videos circulating online of her death were evident between the federal administration and state officials, as well as along party lines.
President Donald Trump, 79, reacting to the shooting, said that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer,” a claim contradicted by video footage showing the officer walking toward her car without appearing to be injured.
Meanwhile, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for ICE to leave the city, a demand he repeated on Saturday following the fatal shooting of Pretti.
“How many more residents? How many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end? How many more lives need to be lost before this administration realizes that a political and partisan narrative is not as important as American values?” Frey said at a press conference.
A closer analysis by CNN of Saturday’s incident, using multiple videos and angles, suggests that Pretti appeared to have a gun in his waistband but never drew it at the officers. As officers forced him to the ground, one officer is allegedly seen removing the gun from Pretti’s waistband before multiple shots are fired by what appears to be more than one officer while Pretti lies on the ground.
In a statement, the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said Pretti was believed to be a lawful gun owner with a valid permit to carry, and under Minnesota law, a person with a permit is allowed to carry a gun in public, including during public protests.
Pretti’s family released a statement after his death, calling the Trump administration’s narrative about the shooting “lies,” and emphasizing that “he cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment regarding the discrepancies between Noem’s statements and the video posted by Tapper.
