Alex Pretti's Parents Accuse Federal Officials of Withholding Evidence in Son's Killing

In their first public remarks since January, Michael and Susan Pretti said the Justice Department has ignored and misled them and urged accountability for the federal agents who shot their son in Minneapolis.

The parents of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, spoke publicly for the first time on Tuesday, accusing the Trump administration of withholding evidence and shielding those responsible. At a press conference, Michael and Susan Pretti called on the Department of Justice to hold the agents accountable, saying federal officials had given them no meaningful information about the case. "At every turn, they have ignored us, misled us and shielded Alex's killers," Michael Pretti said, according to the Guardian. Reuters video from the event shows the couple criticising the administration for holding back evidence from local prosecutors.

Pretti, who worked at a veterans hospital, died on 24 January after being shot by federal agents during immigration operations in Minnesota. The Guardian reports that the administration quickly described him as an armed domestic terrorist who resisted violently, but that video footage of the incident contradicted that account, showing he held a cellphone and did not brandish a weapon or attack agents. The newspaper adds that he had no criminal record and a licence to carry the handgun he had holstered. "The federal government went on TV and lied about Alex," Susan Pretti said.

The dispute also reaches the question of who can investigate. The administration argues that Minnesota lacks jurisdiction over federal officers, and the Guardian reports that state officials recently said Washington stopped sharing information with investigators examining Pretti's death and that of Renee Good. In a statement to Reuters, the Justice Department said communications with family members typically come at a later stage of a case, not during an investigation. The accompanying video is Reuters' report on the parents' remarks, not footage of the shooting itself.