Trump Labels Man Killed by Federal Agents an 'Agitator' and 'Perhaps, Insurrectionist' [View all]

Source: Time

President Donald Trump has labeled Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Veterans Affairs nurse killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, an “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist,” in a post on Truth Social early Friday.

“Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces,” Trump continued in his post. “It was quite a display of abuse and anger, for all to see, crazed and out of control. The ICE Officer was calm and cool, not an easy thing to be under those circumstances!”

The President appeared to be referring to footage published by digital news outlet the News Movement and analyzed by BBC News. In the video, a man who appears to be Pretti is seen on Jan. 13 screaming at federal immigration agents and then spitting at and kicking in the taillight of their vehicle as they drove away, after which the agents in tactical gear exited their vehicle and tackled the man to the ground and sprayed chemical irritants at surrounding onlookers. Moments later, the agents released the man and retreated.

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About video of Pretti’s earlier encounter with federal agents, a lawyer representing Pretti’s family told the Associated Press in a statement: “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street—despite posing no threat to anyone—he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents,” and “Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24.”

Read more: https://time.com/7362321/trump-alex-pretti-agitator-insurrectionist-minneapolis-shooting-federal-agents/

Trump: “Agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist, Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent.”

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-30T06:28:57.176Z