Key Witness in Alex Pretti Shooting Says Feds Are Totally Ignoring Her

The woman who filmed federal agents shooting and killing Alex Pretti still hasn’t been contacted by the government days later, only fanning accusations of a federal cover-up.

“Have you been contacted by anyone from the federal government?” CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Minnesota resident Stella Carlson, whose footage has been crucial in delegitimizing the Trump administration’s lies about Pretti. “FBI?”

“No, no, I have not. I do have a legal team now who are fielding much of that, and I am no longer accessible in those ways,” Carlson replied.

“I talked to your attorney this morning; she said she had not received any outreach from the FBI or anybody from the federal government,” Cooper said.

“I do not think they have my name yet,” said Carlson, a shocking oversight given that it’s been four days since the shooting. She then expressed that she had zero confidence in a federal investigation into Pretti’s killing.

“I have faith in various representatives throughout our country who are trying to do the right thing.… I have faith in our local government in Minnesota,” Carlson said. “But [the federal government is] trying to block that from happening. They wouldn’t even let the investigative team come to the crime scene. Their goal is to protect themselves and to spin stories.”

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Speaking to an eyewitness of a killing seems to be a very basic requirement in an investigation, and yet the federal government seems to have gone out of its way not to do it. Carlson isn’t the only Minnesotan who’s been alarmed by the federal government’s sparse, shady investigative protocol here.

“Feels like a cover-up to me.… One thing’s certainly true: The state government has the right to criminally charge anyone, including a federal agent, who commits a crime in our state,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told Democracy Now! on Tuesday. “But what the federal authorities seem to be doing in the three cases of shootings here in Minnesota is to say, ‘Yeah, we kind of know that you have the right to prosecute us, so what we’re going to do is frustrate your capability of prosecuting us by grabbing evidence, by spiriting people away out of the state, by allowing our agents to wear masks so they’re never accountable.’ This is the sort of tactic that they’re using.”

The man who attacked Representative Ilhan Omar by spraying an unknown substance appears to have been a big supporter of Donald Trump and MAGA. 

Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, followed multiple right-wing accounts on X, including Libs of TikTok, Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro, and Tim Pool. On Facebook, Kazmierczak had changed his profile picture to Trump multiple times and regularly criticized Democratic politicians like Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (in addition to his attacks on Omar).

All of this seems to indicate that Kazmierczak’s attack on Omar at a town hall was premeditated, and fueled by his political sentiments. He was immediately tackled by security after spraying Omar, who refused to stop her town hall, telling the crowd, “We will continue. These f***ing a**holes are not going to get away with it!”

“Here’s the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand: We are Minnesota strong, and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us,” Omar added. She continued to speak and take questions for about 30 minutes afterward. 

Trump has attacked Omar for several weeks, repeating racist tropes against her and the Somali American community, which has a large presence in Minnesota. On Tuesday, he repeated those slurs in Iowa, saying that Somalis “have to show that they can love our country. They have to be proud. Not like Ilhan Omar.… This wise guy, you know, she’s always talking about the Constitution—‘You know, provides me with the following. You know, the Constitution.’ She comes from a country that’s a disaster. It’s probably—it’s considered … it’s not even a country, OK? It barely has a government. I don’t think it does. They’re good at one thing: pirates. But they don’t do that anymore.”

The president bears responsibility for inciting these attacks on Omar, a four-term congresswoman. But he has a long history of refusing to take responsibility for his words and actions, and his initial response to the attack on Omar was to pile on.  

President Trump used the Tuesday night spray attack against Representative Ilhan Omar to further berate the congresswoman—accusing her of spraying herself, although video of the incident clearly shows the contrary.

“No. I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud. I really don’t think about that. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” the president told ABC’s Rachel Scott when asked if he had seen the attack. “I haven’t seen [the video]. No, no. I hope I don’t have to bother.”

Omar was confronted by 55-year-old Anthony James Kazmierczak at her Minnesota town hall on Tuesday night. Kazmierczak sprayed an unknown substance, which apparently had a pungent, unpleasant scent, at Omar before being tackled to the ground and arrested. Omar continued her town hall virtually unfazed.

Trump has been lobbing racist attacks at Omar, the first Somali American member of Congress, and the entirety of Somalia for weeks, making baseless accusations about her personal life, finances, and home.

“He literally brought her up earlier today at a rally btw,” streamer Hasan Piker noted after Trump’s comments. “He talks about her in insane ways pretty much at every single rally and most pressers. Freak.”

“These fuckers bullied everyone into deifying Charlie Kirk when he was killed, but when Ilhan Omar is attacked, this is what the president can get away with saying,” Medhi Hassan wrote on X.

As someone who has been attacked while speaking—nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet—you’d think Trump would be able to express a modicum of sympathy for Omar. He could’ve kept it short and sweet, something like “You never wanna see that.” But instead he decided to keep slandering a woman who faces hatred and violence every day for fighting for her principles and beliefs.

The president just can’t get behind the fact that slain Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti was licensed to carry a firearm.

Donald Trump—a born and bred New Yorker—mentioned Pretti’s gun permit status at least three times on Tuesday, apparently in disbelief that someone in the American Midwest could legally walk around with guns.

“You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns, you just can’t,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Tuesday afternoon.

Later, at a restaurant in Iowa, the topic came up again.

“He certainly shouldn’t have been carrying a gun,” Trump said, noting that he viewed Pretti’s death as an “unfortunate situation.”

“I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That’s a lot of bad stuff,” Trump said.

Moments before ICE agents shot the 37-year-old dead in the street, videos taken from multiple angles depicted Pretti with no weapon in his hands. Instead, he was filming federal officers with a phone, while his other hand—which remained empty—was raised.

Pretti intervened when an agent shoved a woman, trying to help her back on her feet before he was slammed to the ground by seven ICE agents—one of which shot Pretti 10 times in a span of five seconds, ending Pretti’s life.

The widely documented reality of the situation has not prevented the Trump administration from attempting to twist the narrative into one that benefits its immigration aims, even if that means attacking Pretti’s Second Amendment rights, which were created to defend the American populace from exactly the kind of federal tyranny executed in Minneapolis.

Almost immediately after Pretti—a highly respected ICU nurse who worked in Veterans’ Affairs—was killed, Department of Homeland Security officials quickly branded him as a “domestic terrorist,” insisting that his death was justified on the basis that he had supposedly “approached officers with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.”

But even as the White House has attempted to shift the optics on its operations in Minnesota, Trump has still continued to scold Pretti for daring to carry his gun on his person while he protested through the streets of Minneapolis.

“I don’t like the fact that he was carrying a gun that was fully loaded and he had two magazines with him, it’s pretty unusual,” Trump told Fox News Tuesday. “But nobody knows when they saw the gun or how they saw the gun.”

That has put the White House at odds with gun lobbyists, including the National Rifle Association, which was the single largest outside donor in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. At the time, the organization donated $30 million to transplant him from the golden escalator into the Oval Office. In 2020, it donated another $16.6 million to Trump’s aims.

Responding to a post after Pretti’s death by U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, in which the Trump official claimed law enforcement are “legally justified” in shooting Americans in possession of firearms, the NRA posted: “This sentiment … is dangerous and wrong. Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”

Gun Owners of America took on a more forceful tone, writing online that “the Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting—a right the federal government must not infringe upon.”

The Department of Homeland Security is collecting information on Minnesotans protesting ICE.

Federal agents from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations assigned to Minneapolis received a memo earlier this month asking them to collect identifying information on protesters and so-called agitators, CNN reported Tuesday.

Federal agents from the agencies were asked to fill out a form titled “intel collection non-arrests,” and “capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form,” according to communications obtained by CNN.

Among the likely subjects of this massive surveillance scheme was Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who was killed by Customs and Border Protection agents in broad daylight. A few days before he was killed, Pretti was beaten by a group of federal agents he was monitoring, and suffered a broken rib. A source told CNN that federal agents knew Pretti’s name, but did not clarify if he was in this database.

Last week, a masked ICE agent warned a woman filming their activities in Portland, Maine, that her information would be entered into a “nice little database” that would label her a domestic terrorist. This week, federal agents have reportedly started making house calls on volunteer ICE watchers they hope to intimidate.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, a well-documented liar, claimed that her agency was not compiling a database of so-called “domestic terrorists,” but that it was “standard protocol” to collect information on law-breaking “violent agitators” in order to “advance prosecution.”

“We do of course monitor and investigate and refer all threats, assaults and obstruction of our officers to the appropriate law enforcement,” McLaughlin said. “Obstructing and assaulting law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime.”

It seems that federal agents have lost the plot on what obstruction actually entails. Federal agents have aggressively approached citizen ICE watchers simply monitoring their operations, threatening to arrest them—or worse. And DHS’s claims of assault against federal officers have continued to crumble under the slightest scrutiny.

Federal officers stationed in Minnesota don’t seem to be interested in lowering the temperature.

An ICE agent issued a chilling warning to a legal observer Tuesday, informing them that if “you raise your voice, I will erase your voice.”

“Are you serious? You said if I raise my voice, you will erase my voice?” the observer asked incredulously.

“Yes, exactly,” the agent responded.

Within the last three weeks, agents with ICE and Customs and Border Protection have shot and killed two U.S. citizens: Veterans Affairs ICU nurse Alex Pretti and award-winning poet Renee Nicole Good.

The agencies have also deported people from the U.S. without due process, ripped children from their parents, and ushered thousands of untrained agents into cities and neighborhoods where they are not wanted.

A CBS News poll published days before Pretti’s killing on Saturday in Minneapolis found that 61 percent of surveyed Americans felt that ICE agents were “too tough” when stopping and detaining people.

In the face of ICE’s seemingly endless violence, thousands of Minnesotans have risen up in protest, creating a call for change so loud that even Washington couldn’t ignore it.

By Monday, Donald Trump had unveiled a new plan for Minnesota in a flailing Hail Mary attempt to salvage his increasingly unpopular immigration agenda. In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced that border czar Tom Homan would be shipped to Minnesota to run ICE and CBP. Customs and Border Protection boss Greg Bovino, on the other hand, got the boot.

Meanwhile, the president almost immediately threw the de facto leaders of his deportation scheme—namely, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller—under the bus in order to save his own skin, attempting to frame himself in front of reporters as a level-headed witness to the ICE killings rather than the primary and active architect of the agency’s recent overreach.

Slain Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti had his rib broken by ICE agents just one week before he was shot to death. He was also potentially part of a massive surveillance database that agents are rumored to be collecting on protesters in Minneapolis.

An unnamed source told CNN that Pretti’s earlier altercation with federal agents occurred when he pulled over and got out of his car to observe ICE agents running after a family. He immediately began blowing his whistle and yelling. He was later taken down by five agents, with one leaning on his back and breaking his rib, before they released him back into the street.  

“That day, he thought he was going to die,” CNN’s source said. CNN reviewed Pretti’s medication records, which were consistent with the idea that he had broken his rib.

It’s not clear whether Border Patrol agents recognized Pretti before killing him this past weekend. But a DHS memo earlier this month told agents in Minneapolis to “capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form.” A source also told CNN that federal agents knew Pretti’s name, without clarifying if he was in this database.

“One thing I’m pushing for right now … we’re going to create a database where those people that are arrested for interference, impeding and assault, we’re going to make them famous,” border czar Tom Homan said two weeks ago. “We’re going to put their face on TV. We’re going to let their employers, in their neighborhoods, in their schools, know who these people are.”

From the “fucking bitch” comment after Renee Good’s shooting to this news about Pretti, it seems clear that federal immigration agents aren’t simply good guys who are operating under duress of the mob—they’re vindictive, trigger-happy, and they’re remembering the faces of anyone who stands up to them. 

Federal officers in Minnesota are either completely ignorant of the severity of their violence, or they simply don’t care.

Agents staying at a Springhill Suites in Maple Grove—a suburban city about 20 minutes away from Minneapolis—were filmed by journalist Laura Jedeed laughing at protesters from a third-floor window Monday evening. Then, one of the agents pulled down his shorts and pressed his bare ass against the glass, mooning the distressed crowd protesting below.

Within the last three weeks, agents with ICE and Customs and Border Protection have shot and killed two U.S. citizens: Veterans Affairs ICU nurse Alex Pretti and award-winning poet Renée Nicole Good.

Immigration agents have resorted to arresting practically anybody—including U.S. citizens and children—in order to satisfy Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller’s quota of 3,000 or more arrests per day.

In doing so, they’ve struck terror and fury into the souls of American communities, and the cold-blooded federal overreach has sparked nationwide protests and local economic blackouts.

Local politicians—including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz—have demanded that ICE and CBP exit their cities and states, arguing that the federal agents have done more harm than good. In 2025, before Good’s death, the agency killed 32 people—its deadliest year in more than two decades.

In an attempt to defend their own city from the state-sponsored violence, some Minneapolis residents have opted to openly carry their firearms, brandishing their Second Amendment right to bear arms. Locals have formed neighborhood watches to follow ICE vehicles, banging pots and pans and screaming to alert others when agents enter their residential neighborhoods.

The public backlash has rattled conservative lawmakers, donors, and even Donald Trump, who appears to be peeling away from Miller and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in an attempt to salvage his immigration agenda.

The Justice Department is not pursuing a civil rights probe into Alex Pretti’s death at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, with the Department of Homeland Security instead investigating its own officers. 

MS NOW reports that Customs and Border Protection will be investigating whether the agents followed department policy, while Homeland Security Investigations, which normally investigates human trafficking and drug rings as part of ICE, will be investigating whether Pretti broke any laws before being killed.

Normally, the FBI would handle such an investigation, considering that it has the lab facilities and investigators experienced with shootings. In fact, Border Patrol agents requested the FBI’s help to gather evidence after the shooting, but in the end, “All evidence, excluding firearms and casings, were turned over to DHS,” according to an FBI memo.

The DOJ appears to be following the same playbook it used after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month. In that case too, the DOJ announced there would be no civil rights investigation. 

“This is absolutely the kind of investigation that should be led by the FBI as it has the authority, experience, capability, and credibility to conduct a thorough, objective, and unbiased investigation,” MS NOW contributor and former FBI Agent Chris O’Leary said. “Unfortunately the current Director of the FBI and leadership in DOJ are blocking this from happening, and are therefore part of the problem and not part of the solution.”

Questions have already been raised as to how evidence, such as Pretti’s phone and handgun, have been handled by the federal government, with the government even arguing in court that they have the right to destroy evidence. Now, the fact that DHS and Border Patrol will essentially be investigating themselves seems to indicate the agents who killed Pretti will soon be exonerated. 

State authorities say that the federal government has not shared evidence with them, and current and former investigators with the FBI and DOJ say that the government is already violating DOJ policy and previous practices, according to MS NOW. 

“The fact that this investigation has already been taken by the agency involved speaks to them not wanting any outside agency having access to the evidence nor the ability to take statements from the agents involved,” former FBI agent and MS NOW contributor Rob D’Amico said. “No matter how good an investigation was conducted, it gives the perception of a cover-up if … charges aren’t brought against the agents.”  

Federal agents in Maine are now threatening ICE watchers at their homes.

Liz Eisele McLellan, a volunteer ICE watcher monitoring the intensifying federal operations in Maine, told the Portland Press Herald that a federal agent came to her home to threaten her. “It was one of the scariest things that ever happened to me,” McLellan said.

McLellan said she spoke to one agent, while three cars blocked the street outside. “This is a warning,” one agent said, according to McLellan. “We know you live right here.”

McLellan said she called 911 and recounted what had happened to the dispatcher, who told her she should comply with orders from federal agents.

Last week, a masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent warned a woman filming their activities in Portland that her information would be entered into a “nice little database” that would label her a domestic terrorist.

This comes just weeks after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of two, while she was observing federal immigration operations in Minneapolis. The Press Herald report came out the day before CBP agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA ICU nurse who was attending a Minneapolis protest in the wake of Good’s death.

Two people who work as volunteers in Minneapolis, driving supplies to immigrants hiding in their homes from federal agents and following ICE vehicles, told The Atlantic that agents had gone to their homes to threaten them too.

While legal threats against observers may sound absurd, a recent security threats assessment leaked from the Department of Homeland Security revealed the department’s intention to broaden the definition of domestic terrorism.

Federal officials claimed to have arrested more than 200 people as part of their operations in Maine, and that they are targeting the worst of the worst. But, as is the case in other cities targeted by President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operations, local officials and community members say that people without criminal records are being detained too.