Eyewitness videos showing at least one federal agent shooting and killing Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis appear to counter the Trump administration’s description of events, presenting two starkly different narratives.
Shortly after the shooting, federal officials said agents had acted in self-defense during a violent altercation Saturday morning. Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, adding that officers “attempted to disarm” him and he “violently resisted.” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Pretti “tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.”
But at least four different videos of the encounter — recorded by eyewitnesses and verified and analyzed by NBC News — run counter to some of the administration’s statements. The videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a weapon during the skirmish that led to his death. The video shows him coming to the aid of a person federal agents pushed before the encounter.
And some of the video shows a federal agent appearing to reach into the skirmish near Pretti and remove a gun that looked like Pretti’s shortly before he was shot.
More from Minneapolis:
- A ‘gentle, good person’: Pretti was an intensive care nurse whose family remembered him as a “kind-hearted soul” who cared deeply for the patients he served at a Veterans Affairs facility.
- DHS funding at risk: Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said they will not vote for Department of Homeland Security funding in the wake of Pretti’s death, joining a chorus of Democrats calling for restrictions on immigration enforcement operations.
- Second Amendment fight: A number of pro-gun rights Republicans pushed back against the Trump administration’s argument that Pretti was dangerous because he had a gun. Pretti was legally licensed to carry one.
Meet the Press
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he believed federal agents have been acting “humanely” despite the recent killings of two Americans in Minneapolis and other high-profile incidents.
Moderator Kristen Welker pressed Blanche about a number of those incidents, including the pepper-spraying of protesters, the detention of a 5-year-old by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the removal of a nearly naked U.S. citizen from his home in freezing weather.
Asked whether federal agents were acting humanely, Blanche said, “Yes, our agents are acting humanely.”
“Their jobs are very, very difficult,” he continued. “It is a very difficult place to be going out and trying to arrest these violent felons with no support from local law enforcement, with no support from the governor.”
Politics in brief
- Warning a northern neighbor: Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if it went ahead with a trade deal with China.
- The ‘New Gaza’: Jared Kushner’s plan for the enclave filled with gleaming high-rise towers and tourist-packed beaches is in stark contrast to the reality of a territory in ruins after two years of war.
At least two dead, more than 1 million without power as winter storm hits the U.S.
Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain are affecting millions of people as dangerously cold weather causes major outages and disruptions across the U.S.
The deaths of two men from Louisiana have been attributed to the storm after they were reported to have died from hypothermia, according to the state Health Department.
Dangerous cold is gripping much of the central and eastern parts of the country, with wind chills reaching as low as minus 30 and temperatures 10 to 40 degrees below average. Ice buildup on power lines and tree limbs can add weight that eventually pulls lines down, causing power outages.
More than 10,000 scheduled flights were canceled Sunday, with 2,000 more on Monday already canceled.
The race to the Super Bowl
When the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams meet for the NFC championship Sunday night, it will be — by at least one measure — the best NFL showdown of nearly the last five decades.
The Rams and the Seahawks have the highest combined Defense-adjusted Value Over Average of any two playoff teams of the last 47 years. The advanced metric calculates how efficient a team is using every single play.
Analytics aside, the game will be a test of several storylines. It’s a clash of division rivals who played two incredibly close games in the regular season. It’ll be a coaching battle between offensive wunderkind Sean McVay of the Rams and defensive genius Mike Macdonald of the Seahawks. And it will also be a showdown between quarterbacks Matthew Stafford of the Rams and Sam Darnold of the Seahawks, both in wildly different parts of their careers with something to prove.
NBC News is covering all the action.
- AFC championship: The New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos 10-7 to advance to their first Super Bowl since Tom Brady left the team.
‘Brat’ Sundance: How Charli XCX became the new queen of indie film
This is the year Charli XCX is ready to let “brat” die.
The British pop star, whose sixth studio album became a cultural and commercial phenomenon synonymous with an attitude of spiky independence in 2024, is moving on to a new passion: film. And she has unofficially launched her new chapter at the Sundance Film Festival with “The Moment.”
The A24 film is a satire about Charli’s life at the height of her fame, at the end of “brat summer” in 2024 as she was preparing to embark on her first arena tour. Still, if Charli is ready to close the “brat” chapter, her fans may be harder to convince.
Ticket holders and festival volunteers lined up outside the theater in the snow Friday night wearing lime-green beanies — a promotional item from the film — and holding copies of the album.
More from Sundance:
- TikTok held a massive panel and event, co-hosted a happy hour with A24 (that Charli XCX stopped by) and sent 10 creators to the festival to make content from the events.
- Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said he was “punched in the face” Friday at the Sundance Film Festival by a man who was alleged to have told him President Donald Trump was going to deport him.
Iranians return to daily life in a capital scarred by deadly protests
It has been difficult to get a clear picture of what happened in the streets of the Tehran, the Iranian capital, during a chaotic time that human rights groups say led to the deaths of more than 5,000 people.
Buildings burned and scarred. Government buildings and banks set ablaze. A national supermarket chain badly damaged.
NBC News documented scenes from the aftermath of the violence on Tehran’s streets.
Notable quote
He does have a solid fan base, and so if I can help separate them from some of their money, I’m always happy to do that.
David Bensoussan, a Polymarket user who made a profit betting against elon musk
There’s a popular saying among fans of tech billionaire Elon Musk: Never bet against him. But in the booming world of online prediction markets, some people are not only betting against Musk but also bringing in big paydays doing so.
In case you missed it
- Famed rock climber Alex Honnold climbed the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 skyscraper without a rope.
- The British government said it will unveil plans to create a national police force, dubbed the “British FBI,” to take charge in complex investigations such as counterterrorism, fraud, online child abuse and criminal gang cases.
- Ukrainian and Russian negotiators continued U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, after a wave of Russian airstrikes knocked out power for millions of people amid freezing winter temperatures.