Alex Pretti Suffered Broken Rib in ICE Confrontation Days Before Fatal Shooting, Raising Fears Protesters Are Being Tracked

Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis ICU nurse, protest observer, and activist who was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent this weekend, had suffered a broken rib during an earlier confrontation with federal officers just days before his death, according to a report.

Pretti, 37, was injured a week earlier when a group of federal officers allegedly tackled him as he protested the detention of other individuals, sources told CNN. During that encounter, Pretti was not arrested and was later released at the scene.

Since the launch of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis last month, federal officers have been gathering information on protesters and agitators in the city. According to CNN sources, Pretti’s name and details were among the information collected prior to his fatal shooting on Saturday.

A memo circulated to officers in Minneapolis directed them to “capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protesters, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form,” CNN reported.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told The Independent that the agency has “no record of this incident.” Calls placed by the outlet to Pretti’s family went unanswered.

According to sources familiar with the earlier encounter, Pretti had stopped his vehicle after witnessing ICE agents chasing what he described as a family on foot. He began shouting and blowing a whistle to draw attention to the situation. Five agents allegedly tackled him, and one leaned on his back during the altercation, resulting in a broken rib.

Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital, later told one source that he believed he was going to die during the incident. Medical records reviewed by CNN indicate he was given medication consistent with treatment for a broken rib.

Earlier this month, a DHS official in Minneapolis issued a memo to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations officers instructing them to use a new intake form to collect information on protesters and agitators. While Pretti was known to federal agents, it remains unclear whether his information was entered using that form.

Concerns over the creation of a federal database tracking protesters have grown after several Trump administration officials publicly discussed the idea. Border czar Tom Homan said earlier this month that he was “pushing for” a database of individuals arrested during immigration-related protests.

“We’re going to create a database where those people that are arrested for interference, impeding and assault — we’re going to make them famous,” Homan said during a Fox News appearance.

Homan was sent to Minneapolis on Tuesday amid rising tensions following Pretti’s death.

A separate video circulating on social media, filmed in Maine last week, shows a federal agent recording a woman’s license plate while telling her, “We have a nice little database and now you are considered a domestic terrorist.”

DHS has denied maintaining any such list.

“There is NO database of ‘domestic terrorists’ run by DHS,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN. “We do of course monitor and investigate and refer all threats, assaults, and obstruction of our officers to the appropriate law enforcement. Obstructing and assaulting law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime.”