The Saturday shooting death of anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti has roiled the city of Minneapolis and sent thousands of demonstrators to the streets night after night in the frigid cold. The inflammatory rhetoric from leftists continues even as not all the facts are known.
President Trump, meanwhile, is sending Border Czar Tom Homan to the Twin Cities to manage the volatile situation, while U.S. Border Patrol Commander‑at-Large Gregory Bovino and a number of his agents will reportedly be leaving town.
However, according to DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, Bovino remains a valued member of the Trump administration:
Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties. As @PressSec stated from the White House podium, @CMDROpAtLargeCA is a key part of the President’s team and a great American. https://t.co/qj3E9B8uzg
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) January 27, 2026
But there’s one thing that could really help sort out the facts and separate wild speculation from reality, and that’s body camera footage.
Turns out, agents were wearing the recording devices, and the Department of Homeland Security is reviewing the footage now, according to an NBC News report:
Homeland Security investigators have videos recorded by cameras worn by multiple agents, department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
The agents involved in the Pretti shooting were part of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, a specialized force, McLaughlin said. Two law enforcement officials told NBC News that unit has more body-worn cameras.
BREAKING: A DHS spokesperson confirms to @FoxNews that several federal agents had their body cameras on during the interaction that led to the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti in Minnesota, and footage from "multiple angles" is currently being reviewed by investigators.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 26, 2026
MORE: New: Trump Ignores the Online Noise, Makes Big Change in Minnesota Immigration Operation
Investigation Reveals Far-Left Networks' Rapid-Fire Coordination Put Pretti in Harm's Way
What will the footage show, and will it be made available to the public? Those are unanswered questions at this hour. There has been speculation that Pretti’s gun went off accidentally, sparking the escalation of the incident, but that has not been verified so far. He was armed with a Sig Sauer P320 series 9mm semi-automatic pistol — a weapon that has a history of self-firing — and carried two magazines, but he also had a concealed carry permit.
What we do know is that there’s an awful lot of speculation going on from both sides, and the bodycams could provide definitive answers.
One thing we already know, however, is that interfering with heavily armed law enforcement is an inherently dangerous task. As RedState reported, authorities were conducting a targeted operation aimed at an Ecuadoran illegal immigrant named Jose Huerta-Chuma —whose criminal history includes domestic assault among other charges — when the Pretti incident occurred. If Pretti hadn’t joined the whistleblowing, often violent crowds that have been plaguing federal immigration personnel, he might very well be alive today.
While this situation is certainly tragic, it does not excuse the fire-breathing rhetoric from Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who frequently refer to law enforcement as akin to Nazis and have repeatedly issued commands to their residents to stand up to them. It also does not excuse their sanctuary policies that led to this mess in the first place.
INCITING RAGE: WH Kept Receipts, Lists 57 Times 'Sick, Unhinged' Democrats Called for Violence Against Law Enforcement
We’ll see if the bodycam videos provide any concrete answers, or if this battle between the federal executive branch and local governments just continues to get more inflamed.
Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.
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