By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) – An initial U.S. government review of the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by immigration agents in Minneapolis made no mention of him brandishing a firearm, despite initial statements by Trump officials highlighting the weapon.
A preliminary review by U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Pretti, 37, was shot by two federal officers, a Border Patrol agent and a customs officer, after he refused to move out of the street following an order from a customs officer.
In the hours after Pretti was killed on Saturday, top Trump administration officials portrayed the ICU nurse as an aggressor, assertions that were quickly contradicted by video from the scene.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said he “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun,” but did not mention that the weapon was holstered. White House aide Stephen Miller – the driver of Trump’s immigration agenda – called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and “would-be assassin” without presenting evidence to support the claims.
The killing of Pretti, an ICU nurse at a hospital for veterans, sparked a national uproar and led Trump to adopt a more conciliatory tone this week.
The CBP review, conducted by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility and shared with lawmakers on Tuesday, is standard protocol and shared with members of Congress to promote transparency, CBP spokesperson Hilton Beckham said.
Beckham said the notifications “provide an initial outline of an event that took place and do not convey any definitive conclusion or investigative findings.”
Details in the preliminary review reinforced the disconnect between how Trump officials portrayed the shooting and the video evidence.
The review said that a customs officer tried to move Pretti and a woman out of the street, but that they “did not move.” The officer then fired pepper spray at Pretti and the woman, it said.
CBP customs officers normally work at ports of entry screening passengers and goods entering the U.S., but some have been detailed to work on immigration enforcement by the Trump administration as part of its crackdown. The identities of the agents and officers at the scene and whether they had any experience with crowd control in urban environments have not been made public.
The CBP internal assessment said that the agency’s personnel tried to take Pretti into custody and that “a struggle ensued.”
A Border Patrol agent shouted “He’s got a gun!” multiple times during the struggle, the review said. Five seconds later, a Border Patrol agent and a customs officer fired at Pretti.
Video showed an agent removing Pretti’s gun from his waist prior to the shooting.
The review was based on footage from body-worn cameras and CBP documentation, it said.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Craig Timberg and Nick Zieminski)
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