Two federal immigration agents involved in the shooting of protester Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street have been identified as longtime officers with Customs and Border Protection, according to a report.
Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, 35, are named in government records, viewed by ProPublica, as the officers who fired on the 37-year-old intensive care nurse on January 24.
The agents, from Texas, were assigned to “Operation Metro Surge,” which saw thousands of federal agents deployed to Minnesota in December to carry out the Trump administration’s anti-immigration crackdown.
Their names have not been released by Customs and Border Protection, which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. The agents were placed on leave following the shooting, according to the department.
In a statement to The Independent, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said it “will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.”
“Doxxing our officers put their lives and their families in serious danger,” the spokesperson said. “Our law enforcement officers are on the frontlines arresting terrorists, gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and rapists. Now, thanks to the malicious rhetoric of sanctuary politicians, they are under constant threat from violent agitators.”
“Publicizing their identities puts their lives and the lives of their families at serious risk,” the spokesperson added. “This matter remains under investigation.”
Ochoa joined the agency in 2018, while Gutierrez joined in 2014 and works for the agency’s Office of Field Operations, the outlet reports. Gutierrez is assigned to a special response team which carries out high-risk operations similar to police SWAT units, according to ProPublica.
Ochoa’s ex-wife, Angelica Ochoa, told ProPublica that her ex-husband is a criminal justice graduate of the University of Texas-Pan American.
He is a resident of the Rio Grande Valley who had long “dreamed” of working for the Border Patrol, she reportedly said, and added that by the time the couple split in 2021, the federal agent “had become a gun enthusiast with about 25 rifles, pistols, and shotguns.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, was among lawmakers calling for the federal agents to be identified. “They should not be anonymous,” Raskin said Sunday on CNN. “They should be identifiable. And they have to have rules of engagement that don’t allow them to terrorize and intimidate, harass and assault U.S. citizens and other people.”
The Trump administration also refused to name the agent who killed mother-of-three Renee Good in Minneapolis on January 7. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross was identified by media organizations in the days after her death.
The killings of Good and Pretti have sparked huge protests in Minneapolis and across the country.
President Donald Trump has attempted to turn down the temperature by pulling out Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, who insisted that the two Border Patrol agents were the “victims” of the shooting the day after Pretti was killed.
The president said he wanted an “honest” investigation into Pretti’s death, a significant shift in tone following the fatal shooting of mother-of-three Renee Good.
The two agents were not named in the preliminary review of the shooting, based on body camera footage and documents, that was sent to Congress last week.
It provided a timeline of how events unfolded but made no mention that Pretti brandished a weapon before he was killed, contradicting claims made by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her department.
The incident began at approximately 9 a.m. on January 24, when a federal officer was confronted by two female protesters who were blowing whistles, according to the review.
“The CBPO ordered the female civilians to move out of the roadway, and the female civilians did not move. The CBPO pushed them both away and one of the females ran to a male, later identified as 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a US citizen,” the report said.
The officer attempted to move the woman and Pretti out of the road, but when they did not move, the agent deployed pepper spray toward both of them, the report said.
A struggle ensued between the federal agent and Pretti, who “resisted” the officer’s attempts to take him into custody.
“During the struggle, a [Border Protection agent] yelled, ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times,” the report continued. Approximately five seconds later, the agent “discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a CBPO also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.”
Pretti was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead by 9:32 a.m., the review said.
Following pressure from the public and lawmakers, the Justice Department announced Friday that its civil division has opened an investigation into the killing of Pretti, led by the FBI.
