Featured Image Credit: Samuel Corum/Getty
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, Truth Social
William Morgan
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, Truth Social
New comments made by President Donald Trump about Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal agents last weekend, have sparked backlash.
Last Saturday's (January 24) shooting of Pretti by Customs and Border Protection agents further amplified fury against immigration enforcement on the streets of Minneapolis and around the country.
Coming just weeks after mom Renée Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer while behind the wheel of her car, Pretti's death has galvanized public opinion and Democrats against Trump's nationwide immigration crackdown.
But a new video appearing to show Pretti lash out at an ICE vehicle and getting into a scuffle with masked agents in the days before his killing has seen Trump seemingly attempt to reshape the narrative about the 37-year-old who worked in a veterans' hospital.
Advert
After seeing the video from January 13, which has been confirmed as real by Pretti's family, Trump attempted to argue that the ICU nurse's 'stock has gone way down', in a Truth Social post that some have called 'disgusting'.
The president said: "Agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist, Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces.
"It was quite a display of abuse and anger, for all to see, crazed and out of control. The ICE Officer was calm and cool, not an easy thing to be under those circumstances! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN."
But while Trump seemingly attempted to reclaim the narrative, facing a potential government shutdown as Democrats consider withholding ICE funding, his Truth Social post only incensed some who were already furious.
One X user pointed out: "He shows more empathy for a car than for a man who was killed by federal agents. It's disgusting."
Another added: "This is disturbing on multiple levels. A sitting president referring to a dead American citizen—shot by federal agents—as having his 'stock gone way down' because of protest footage from days earlier is dehumanizing and reckless."
The video does appear to show Pretti kicking the tail light of a car and being wrestled by immigration officers, even at one point possibly showing his legally-owned firearm tucked into the back of his trousers.
However, unlike on January 24 when he was disarmed and then shot 10 times, none of the agents pulled their service weapons on him.
The attorney representing Pretti’s family, Steve Schleicher, said in a statement: "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."
The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that it is reviewing the footage as it investigates the circumstances that led to Pretti's fatal shooting.
UNILD has contacted the White House for comment.