(The official narrative surrounding the killing of Alex Pretti is under intense scrutiny as Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino began to walk back his initial “massacre” claims during a Sunday press conference, following the release of viral videos that appear to debunk the federal government’s version of events.)
On Sunday, January 25, 2026, Bovino—the “commander-at-large” overseeing the Minneapolis crackdown—avoided direct questions about whether Pretti ever brandished a weapon. This marks a shift from Saturday, when he and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti had “violently resisted” and approached agents with a handgun to “massacre law enforcement”. However, frame-by-frame analyses by the BBC and The Washington Post show Pretti holding only a cellphone while recording the agents. Most critically, the footage reveals a federal agent in a gray jacket removing Pretti’s holstered firearm from his waistband just seconds before other agents opened fire with approximately 10 shots.
Bovino’s pivot to describing the death as “preventable” and a result of Pretti making “poor choices” by “injecting himself” into the scene has only fueled further outrage. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has dismissed the evolving federal story as “nonsense and lies,” while the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has sued to prevent federal agents from destroying evidence, citing “grave concerns” over the integrity of the scene.
