Border Patrol Agents Involved In Alex Pretti Fatal Shooting Placed On Administrative Leave

Two Border Patrol agents who were involved in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday have been placed on administrative leave, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told The Daily Wire.

The agents initially continued working but were assigned to different operations. Preliminary findings from a federal investigation determined that two Border Patrol agents fired their weapons during their confrontation with Pretti.

The CBP spokesperson cited “standard protocol” as the reason the agents were placed on leave. It’s unclear why the action took several days as federal probes commenced.

The initial findings from the internal Customs and Border Protection review stated that Border Patrol agents were working to make an arrest in Minneapolis on Saturday morning when an agent was “confronted by two female civilians blowing whistles.” The agent issued a verbal command to the women to “move out of the roadway” when they made contact with Pretti.

“The [CBP officer] pushed them both away and one of the females ran to a male, later identified as 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a US citizen,” the report said. “The [CBP officer] attempted to move the woman and Pretti out of the roadway. The woman and Pretti did not move. The [CBP officer] deployed his oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray towards both Pretti and the woman.”

According to the report, the agents “attempted to take Pretti into custody,” but “Pretti resisted CBP personnel’s efforts and a struggle ensued.”

“During the struggle, a [Border Patrol agent] yelled, ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times,” the report said.

“Approximately five seconds later, a [Border Patrol agent] discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a [CBP officer] also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti. After the shooting, a BPA [Border Patrol agent] advised he had possession of Pretti’s firearm,” CBP added. “The BPA subsequently cleared and secured Pretti’s firearm in his vehicle.”

Following the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” who arrived on scene “to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.” She has since faced backlash for getting ahead of multiple ongoing federal investigations.

“It was a horrible response,” a federal government source recently told The Daily Wire. “Many people I’ve heard from say it was unprofessional. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis was among the growing number of congressional Republicans to condemn Noem and has since called on President Donald Trump to fire her.

Tillis, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election, told reporters Tuesday that Noem “has proven to be way out of her depth,” adding that her “amateurish” handling of the latest fatal shooting “should be disqualifying.”

“She should be out of a job,” he said.