Alex Pretti Killing: Federal Agent Shooting & Transparency Demands in Minneapolis

Federal agents Jesus Ochoa & Raymundo Gutierrez killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, sparking protests & calls for transparency. CBP withheld details, igniting debate on police use of force & secrecy amid Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown.

Demand for Agent Transparency

” They ought to not be confidential. They need to be identifiable. And they need to have guidelines of involvement that don’t permit them to daunt and terrify, bother and attack U.S. residents and other people,” he stated.

Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Authorities Responsibility Project, said that numerous neighborhood and state cops divisions are “much more transparent” than CBP when policemans fire people. “A growing number of cops departments are picking to launch bodycam video or dashcam video footage within a couple of days.”

The Confrontation & Video Evidence

Extra video clip has actually surfaced showing Pretti in another altercation with federal representatives 11 days before he was eliminated. The video shows Pretti yelling at the representatives, who enter an SUV and start to drive away. Pretti after that kicks out the taillight of the car and the representatives, who put on safety masks, jump out and tackle him to the ground.

Both Democratic and Republicanlawmakers have called for a transparent investigation into the killing of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse operating at a Division of Veterans Affairs health center.

“We don’t have any type of details on the shooters,” a Minneapolis city agent stated. A representative for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that his workplace likewise had “not been provided the names, and we don’t have any kind of brand-new info on the investigation.”

CBP, which employs both males, has actually so far refused to release their names and has actually disclosed couple of other facts concerning the fatal incident, which came days after a different migration agent shot and killed one more Minneapolis militant, a 37-year-old mom of 3 named Renee Good.

Identified Federal Agents

Both government immigration agents that discharged on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in federal government documents as Boundary Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Traditions and Boundary Defense policeman Raymundo Gutierrez.

Critique on Use of Force

“The various other representative can have claimed ‘do not interfere’ or ‘stand back,'” Kerlikowske claimed. “As opposed to move immediately to pepper spray, you can detain the individual.” It belongs to a pattern, he claimed, of federal police officers leaping straight to use of pressure in circumstances that could have been de-escalated but instead develop threat for both representatives and their targets.

In the after-effects of the capturing, Gregory Bovino, that has actually coordinated high-intensity migration moves and arrests in a string of Democratic-led cities considering that early 2025, was eliminated from his role as Boundary Patrol leader at huge and reassigned to his previous article in El Centro, The Golden State.

Gil Kerlikowske, a previous CBP commissioner, told ProPublica that it’s challenging to reason from the chaos in onlooker videos. Still, he stated, the shooting may have been avoided. Pretti’s attempt to help the lady knocked to the ground could have been viewed as disrupting federal police, he claimed. However the choice by the policemans to immediately utilize pepper spray produced a disorderly scene that likely added to Pretti’s death.

“We have to have a transparent, independent investigation right into the Minnesota capturing, and those accountable– despite their title– must be held answerable,” Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, wrote on X on Monday.

Pretti was armed at the time of the experience with a legitimately owned pistol, according to state and federal authorities. Some evaluations of bystander video clip appear to show a federal representative taking Pretti’s gun from his hip before the very first shots were discharged. The representatives’ masks and the chaos of the altercation make it hard to differentiate one from an additional.

In the first after-effects, Stephen Miller, a leading Trump aide and a leading pressure behind the migration enforcement operations, called Pretti “a potential assassin.” Miller transformed tack later in the week when he stated in a declaration that CBP police officers “might not have been following” protocol related to challenging bystanders.

The two government immigration representatives who fired on Minneapolis militant Alex Pretti are recognized in federal government records as Border Patrol representative Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Boundary Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

In video clips commonly shared online, Pretti can be seen holding up a phone, documenting the motions of federal agents and policemans as they roamed the roads of a preferred food and arts district. According to report, Pretti was worried about the progressively volatile siege of the city by federal representatives.

Aftermath & Calls for Investigation

Pretti’s death, and the federal government’s characterization of the occasion, stimulated instant demonstrations, stimulating thousands of individuals to head out right into freezing problems in Minneapolis and various other American cities. The shooting has actually also attracted extreme objection from politicians, including Walz, who has guaranteed his state’s law enforcement will perform its very own criminal investigation.

The agency sent out a notice to some participants of Congress on Tuesday acknowledging that 2 agents terminated Glock handguns throughout the run-in that left Pretti dead. An agent for the Division of Homeland Protection, which supervises CBP, claimed the representatives had actually been positioned on leave after the Jan. 24 shooting.

Pretti’s murder, and the succeeding secrecy bordering the representatives included, comes as the nation faces the repercussions of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration suppression. The firm sent out a notification to some members of Congress on Tuesday acknowledging that two agents terminated Glock guns throughout the altercation that left Pretti dead. Two representatives after that grab Pretti and draw him to the ground, while more federal workers pile on. Some analyses of onlooker video appear to reveal a government representative taking Pretti’s weapon from his hip before the initial shots were discharged. Added video has appeared revealing Pretti in another altercation with government representatives 11 days before he was killed.

A spokesperson for DHS decreased to answer inquiries regarding the two agents and referred ProPublica to the FBI. The FBI declined to comment. ProPublica made a number of attempts to call Ochoa and Gutierrez however neither addressed.

The CBP police officer “tried to relocate the lady and Pretti out of the highway. “CBP personnel attempted to take Pretti right into wardship.

Ochoa is a Boundary Patrol agent who joined CBP in 2018. Gutierrez signed up with in 2014 and works for CBP’s Office of Field Workflow.

People pay their aspects at a memorial website for Alex Pretti on Jan. 25, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pretti was shot and eliminated by government agents amid a scuffle to detain him on Jan. 24.
Brandon Bell/ Getty Images

Pretti’s murder, and the subsequent privacy surrounding the agents entailed, comes as the country confronts the effects of Head of state Donald Trump’s hostile migration crackdown. The sweeps in cities throughout the country have been noted by scenes of physical violence, against immigrants and U.S. residents, by representatives permitted to conceal their identities with masks– a practically unprecedented method in police. Therefore, the general public has actually been avoided one of the principal means it has to hold policemans involved in such altercations liable: their identification.

Context: Trump’s Immigration Policy

Ochoa, who passes Jesse, graduated from the College of Texas-Pan American with a degree in criminal justice, according to his ex-wife, Angelica Ochoa. A long time local of the Rio Grande Valley, Ochoa had for years desired for working for the Boundary Patrol and ultimately landed a job there, she claimed. By the time the pair split in 2021, he had become a weapon lover with around 25 rifles, handguns and shotguns, Angelica Ochoa claimed.

The records checked out by ProPublica list Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, as the shooters throughout the dangerous experience last weekend that left Pretti dead and fired up substantial demonstrations and requires criminal investigations.

In the videos, a masked agent shows up to knock a lady to the ground. Pretti comes to her help, obtaining in between them, whereupon the police officer releases pepper spray at his face. 2 representatives after that order Pretti and pull him to the ground, while a lot more government workers overdo. During the battle, the representatives let loose a series of shots– about 10– as observers shriek.

“The representatives tried to disarm the individual, however he violently resisted,” Bovino claimed in a Jan. 25 news conference. “Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, a Border Patrol representative fired protective shots.”

DHS’ disclosure to Congress was attracted from an internal evaluation of the agents’ body-camera video, which has actually not been launched to the public. State investigators, at the same time, have accused their government equivalents of blocking them from examining the shooting.