The two Border Patrol agents who shot and killed protester Alex Pretti in Minneapolis have been placed on paid administrative leave.
Sources in Homeland Security confirmed to the Daily Mail that the agents, who have not been identified, were suspended amid an investigation into the shooting.
The agents were reportedly given mental health support as standard procedure, and were placed on an automatic administrative leave for at least three days.
When the agents return, they will not be allowed out on the field and will be given desk roles, the outlet reported.
The move follows mounting scrutiny on the shooting of Pretti on Saturday, which came just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed anti-ICE protester Renee Good in Minneapolis.
The officer involved in Good’s shooting, Jonathan Ross, was not placed on administrative leave, however following Pretti’s death President Trump called for a full investigation into the incident.
Trump officials initially attempted to portray Pretti as a ‘domestic terrorist’ because he had a legally-owned firearm at the time he was shot, however a new government report has undermined allegations he ‘brandished’ the weapon.
The new report alleged that when an officer shouted ‘gun’ during his arrest, there was no evidence Pretti had taken it off his hip.
Footage of the shooting that circulated social media appeared to show a border patrol agent had disarmed Pretti moments before the shooting, before he was shot several times in the back.
The two Border Patrol agents who shot and killed protester Alex Pretti in Minneapolis have been placed on administrative leave
Pretti, 37, was shot dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week during a targeted immigration enforcement operation
According to the new report, which was shared as a requirement for congressional committees to review any deaths in CBP custody within 72 hours, the shooting unfolded around 9am Saturday when agents were confronted by protesters.
Agents said they were faced with protesters ‘yelling and blowing whistles’ at them, while also blocking the roadway at the intersection of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue.
After making ‘several verbal requests’ for the protesters to stop, CBP claims two women confronted the agents while blowing whistles. They were ordered to get out of the roadway but refused.
They said that the women were then ‘pushed away’ and one of them ran to Pretti, with both again refusing to leave the roadways.
The officer then deployed pepper spray at both of them, while attempting to arrest Pretti.
‘CBP personnel attempted to take Pretti into custody. Pretti resisted CBP personnel’s efforts and a struggle ensued,’ the report claims.
‘During the struggle, a (Border Patrol agent) yelled, ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times.’
Pretti was seen facing off with federal agents before being shot. His family claimed he was ‘clearly not holding a gun’, while federal officials have alleged he was ‘brandishing’ a firearm
Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security Secretary, claimed after the shooting that officers ‘clearly feared for their lives’
The report continues: ‘Approximately five seconds later, a (Border Patrol agent) discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a (Customs and Border Protection officer) also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.’
Within five seconds, one agent and one officer discharged the shots, with one using a Glock 19 and the other a Glock 47.
An agent took possession of Pretti’s gun and cleared and secured it shortly after the shooting.
CBP tried to save Pretti’s life by putting chest seals on his wounds at 9:02am, with EMS and EMTs arriving three minutes later.
Pretti was taken in an ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center at 9:14am, where he was pronounced dead at 9:32am.
A DHS investigation is ongoing and The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General has been notified.
‘These notifications reflect standard Customs and Border Protection protocol and are issued in accordance with existing procedures,’ a CBP spokesperson told The Daily Mail.
‘They provide an initial outline of an event that took place and do not convey any definitive conclusion or investigative findings. They are factual reports – not analytical judgments – and are provided to inform Congress and to promote transparency.’
