Doj Opens Civil Rights Investigation Into Pretti Shooting, Blanche Says

The Department of Justice is conducting a civil rights investigation into the killing of Alex Pretti, who was shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday.

Blanche confirmed at a press conference related to the latest release of the Epstein files that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI are looking into Pretti’s killing, which drew strong condemnation from members of Congress from both parties.

A preliminary report from the Department of Homeland Security that was submitted to Congress found that Pretti was shot by two Border Patrol agents after being detained in Minneapolis on Saturday. The report, which was obtained by POLITICO, found that officers fired after they discovered he was carrying a weapon. Videos of the incident show he was not brandishing his weapon before being detained.

Blanche sought to portray the probe as “standard,” even as the Trump administration faces significant backlash for its hostile response in the immediate aftermath of Pretti’s shooting. Lawmakers in both parties have called for top immigration officials to face accountability.

“I don't want the takeaway to be that there's some massive civil rights investigation that's happening. This is what I would describe as a standard investigation by the FBI. … That investigation, to the extent it needs to involve lawyers at the Civil Rights Division, it will involve those,” Blanche said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who’s facing significant scrutiny after labeling Pretti a domestic terrorist following his death, said Thursday that the FBI would be leading the Pretti investigation but did not indicate any coordination with DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

The decision to open the probe in the Pretti shooting marks a distinction with the administration’s response to the killing of Renee Good, who was shot by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis earlier in January. Blanche said shortly after Good’s death that the DOJ would not open a civil rights probe into her case.

Blanche appeared to distinguish between the two cases Friday, suggesting that unique circumstances in Pretti’s death merit a civil rights probe.

“There are thousands, unfortunately, of law enforcement events every year where somebody is shot. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice does not investigate every one of those shootings. There has to be circumstances or facts, or maybe unknown facts, but certainly circumstances that warrant an investigation,” Blanche said.

The new probe marks the latest attempt to mitigate the damage done by Trump officials who excoriated Pretti shortly after his death last week. President Donald Trump withdrew top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino and sent border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis, who indicated he’d oversee a different tactical approach to immigration operations in the city.

Yet Trump himself appears to be doubling down on characterizing Pretti’s killing as justified. In a social media post Friday morning, Trump labeled Pretti an "agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist.”