Two federal immigration agents who fatally shot Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti have been identified as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, 35, according to government records obtained by ProPublica.
The nonprofit investigative news organization published the names Saturday despite the Border Patrol’s refusal to publicly identify the agents involved in the January 24 shooting.
Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, was shot multiple times and killed by federal agents near the intersection of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. The incident occurred amid widespread protests against Operation Metro Surge following the January 7 killing of Renée Good, another U.S. citizen shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
ProPublica stated in its report that the policy of shielding officers’ identities after a public shooting represents a departure from standard law enforcement protocols.
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“The Department of Justice said it is investigating the incident, but the names of the two agents have been withheld from Congress and from state and local law enforcement,” ProPublica wrote. “The policy of shielding officers’ identities, particularly after a public shooting, is a stark departure from standard law enforcement protocols, according to lawmakers, state attorneys general and former federal officials.”
According to bystander video verified by Reuters, the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press, Pretti was filming law enforcement agents with his phone and directing traffic when the confrontation occurred. At one point, he stood between an agent and a woman whom the agent had pushed to the ground, putting his arm around the woman.
He was then pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by several federal agents, with around six surrounding him when he was shot and killed.
A preliminary Customs and Border Protection assessment states that officers attempted to move Pretti and the woman out of the roadway, but both refused to move. The report indicated that after pepper-spraying both individuals, CBP officers attempted to take Pretti into custody when he resisted and a struggle ensued.
During the struggle, an agent yelled “He’s got a gun!” multiple times, according to the report. Approximately five seconds later, Ochoa discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and Gutierrez also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.
However, the preliminary assessment makes no mention of Pretti attacking officers or threatening them with a weapon, contradicting the Trump administration’s initial narrative of the incident.
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Multiple bystander videos and witness testimony show Pretti holding only a phone in his hand before at least six officers tackled him, pinning him face down on the ground and shooting him in the back, firing what sounds like 10 shots.
One eyewitness stated in a court document that Pretti was not even facing agents when they grabbed him. “It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help [a] woman up,” they wrote.
The Department of Justice announced on January 30 that there would be a federal civil rights investigation into the killing, with the FBI leading the investigation. However, the names of the two agents had been withheld from Congress and state and local law enforcement before ProPublica’s report.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has stated she anticipates having enough evidence to make a charging decision in Pretti’s shooting.
The shooting prompted widespread criticism from lawmakers across the political spectrum. President Trump called Pretti an “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist” in response to a video showing Pretti in a confrontation with immigration agents at a Minneapolis protest 11 days before being killed. In that incident, Pretti cursed and spat at agents and broke a taillight of their SUV before being tackled to the ground and released.
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Pretti’s parents released a statement calling Trump’s characterization “sickening lies” and “reprehensible and disgusting.” “Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,” the statement read.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz stated that federal officials’ actions in “closing the crime scene, sweeping away the evidence, defying a court order and not allowing anyone to look at it” represented “an inflection point in America.”
Minnesota senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s continued presence following the shooting, accusing the White House of a cover-up. Representative Ilhan Omar and Minnesota state senator Omar Fateh described the shooting as an execution.
The public fallout from the Pretti and Good shootings prompted Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino to call the federal agents “the victims” of the January 24 shooting. Multiple reports indicate Bovino is facing demotion from his role as Border Patrol’s “Commander of Operation At Large.”
Border Czar Tom Homan announced on January 29 that he would “draw down” the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota following the two fatal shootings and ensuing protests.
Thousands of people attended candlelight vigils at street corners, sidewalks, parks, and various locations across the Twin Cities region on the night of the shooting. A GoFundMe fundraiser for Pretti’s family reached $1 million by January 25.
The National Basketball Association game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors was postponed from the day of the shooting due to safety concerns. A moment of silence for Pretti was held before the rescheduled game.
