DHS report: Two officers fired in Peretti shooting (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: We are now learning that two officers fired during that fatal encounter with Alex Pretty this past Saturday, according to an initial report to Congress from the Department of Homeland Security and reviewed by CNN, a report that also says that they attempted to take him into custody. So let me walk you through this. This is the report from Customs and Border Protection's initial investigation into the shooting of Pretty. It says that an officer yelled, quote, he's got a gun multiple times before two officers fired as that struggle ensued that we have seen in videos. I'm going to quote here from the report. It says, quote, CBP personnel attempted to take Pretty into custody. Pretty resisted CBP personnel's efforts and a struggle ensued. It goes on to say, quote, during the struggle, a Border Patrol agent yelled he's got a gun multiple times. Approximately five seconds later, a Border Patrol agent discharged his CBP issues Glock 19 and a Customs and Border Protection officer also discharged his CBP issued Glock 47 at Pretty. What it does not specifically say is whether the bullets fired from these law enforcement officers hit Pretty. Now, it also gives us a little bit about what happened afterwards. This report, again, provided to lawmakers as after the shooting, and I'm quoting here, a Border Patrol agent advised he had possession of Pretty's firearm. The BPA subsequently cleared and secured that firearm in his vehicle. Goes on to say that the personnel, quote, cut Pretty's clothing and provided medical aid to him by placing chest seals on his wounds. Now, of course, Jake, as you know, there would be an internal review and we're getting some of it within the Customs and Border Protection agency. Those were the officers involved in the shooting. The Department of Homeland Security is leading the investigation. The FBI in a supportive role. But we are now learning new details in this initial report from the Department of Homeland Security that went to Congress. But of course, this is still an ongoing investigation. Jake.

[00:02:01] Speaker 2: CNN is also now learning that about a week before his death, Pretty suffered a broken rib when a group of federal officers tackled him while he was protesting their attempt to detain other individuals. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the breaking details on this. Priscilla, what have you learned?

[00:02:16] Speaker 1: Well, according to sources who spoke with me and my colleague Jeff Winter, we are learning about this encounter that Pretty had with federal agents a week prior to his death. Now we've learned more about what occurred over this incident and we're told by sources that he had stopped his car when he saw ICE agents chasing what he described to sources as a family and began shouting and blowing his whistle. In that incident, he was then tackled by five agents and one of them leaned on his back that left him with a broken rib. This is according to the sources we've spoken with. And one of the sources said, quote, that day he thought he was going to die. Now, Pretty was later given medicine, medication consistent with a broken rib, according to records that we have reviewed here at CNN. So this tells us that there was an incident that happened prior to Saturday. We are also aware that federal immigration officers are collecting personal information of protesters and agitators that they interact with. Now, federal law enforcement appears to have known about Pretty prior to Saturday, but that doesn't mean that the agents who tackled him on Saturday knew about him. Now, recall that part of this collection of information comes within the context of the Department of Homeland Security repeatedly warning that their officers are under threat over the course of these operations. In fact, just this morning, the department publicized an online tip form for people who are alleged or allegedly harassing ICE officers. Now, I did ask the Department of Homeland Security for a statement and I received the following quote. There is no database, something we've heard from other officials. When our law enforcement encounter a violent agitator who is breaking the law, obstructing law enforcement or assaulting them, our law enforcement make records to advance prosecution. This is not groundbreaking. It is standard protocol. And what I mean by that database having come up before is that White House borders are Tom Holman has said that there would be a database database created for those arrested for interference. Now, in all of this, it doesn't indicate that pretty was ever arrested so much as he had this interaction, encounter a week prior that left him with that broken rib. So we're learning more details about him, but also telling of the dynamic that has been the case on the ground in Minneapolis.

[00:04:34] Speaker 2: And Holman is now in Minneapolis. He's had a number of meetings. Tell us about that.

[00:04:39] Speaker 1: Yeah, he has met as you saw there with the governor. Of course, the president himself dispatched Tom Holman to go there to try to smooth over the tensions. The White House is describing his role as managing immigration and customs enforcement operations. Look, this does come as a relief to some homeland security officials because he is a veteran immigration and customs enforcement official. That is that he has deep experience in interior enforcement and targeted arrest. So we will see what that means practically on the ground. But he has he being home and taken a bit of a different approach than Bovino, who we know and saw did more broad immigration sweeps in multiple cities across the country that became controversial and clearly hit a tipping point in Minneapolis just in the last few days.

[00:05:21] Speaker 3: Sources telling our team that federal immigration officers have been collecting personal information about some protesters in Minneapolis and had details on Alex Peretti before he was shot and killed on Saturday. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has been across this story. We're also joined by CNN's Josh Campbell. But Priscilla, let me start with you. What more do we know about the information that's being collected and how Alex Peretti first came to be on the radar of the federal government in this situation?

[00:05:51] Speaker 1: Well, Casey, let me start with your second question. And this earlier incident that we are learning about from sources, me and my colleague Jeff Winter, and that earlier incident that was a week prior to the fatal shooting this past Saturday in Minneapolis, Alex Peretti had stopped his car when he saw ICE agents chasing what he described as a family to one of the sources and began shouting and blowing his whistle. Now, over the course of this encounter, five agents tackled him and one of them leaned on his back and left him with a broken rib. According to the source who had spoken to Peretti, he said, the source said, quote, that day he thought he was going to die. Now, CNN has also reviewed records that show that Peretti was later given medication consistent with a broken rib. Now, we don't know if it is this incident that was on the radar that put Alex Peretti on the radar for federal law enforcement, but we do know there has been a collection of protesters and agitators within the context of the Department of Homeland Security's repeated warnings about the threats to law enforcement officers who are on these operations. In fact, just on Tuesday this morning, the department publicized an online tip form for people to submit tips about others who are harassing ICE agents. Now, I asked the Department of Homeland Security about our reporting. They said that no record of this incident, this earlier incidence of Alex Peretti, was recorded. They also said, quote, there is no database when our law enforcement encounter a violent agitator who is breaking the law, obstructing law enforcement, or assaulting them. Our law enforcement make records to advance prosecution. This is not groundbreaking. It is standard. I'll also add, Casey, that we had heard from White House Borders our Tom Homan in recent days who said that a database would be created of those who are arrested for interference, impeding, and assault. So all of this sort of revealing of the landscape in Minneapolis and the collection of information amid the tensions both between the federal law enforcement on the ground and also the protesters.

[00:07:51] Speaker 3: So considering that new landscape, excuse me, Josh Campbell, we have some new video that shows the minutes before Alex Peretti was shot by immigration agents. Walk us through that. What stands out to you?

[00:08:02] Speaker 4: Well, this is important because we've seen the actual incident of the shooting, but these are the moments just before that. And you can actually see these immigration agents that are there interacting with Peretti. They're off to the left of that video there. At one point, they start shoving him. They're pushing him back. He's standing there filming. It's important because this is really going against this narrative that the Department of Homeland Security came out with initially, saying that he was trying to assault those officers, that he was threatening them, that he was brandishing a firearm. You see them kind of mixing it up there. They're trying to push him back. These agents appear to be very, very amped up as these protesters had shown up, but no indication that he was actually opposing some type of threat to them. And it makes you have to wonder, I mean, where did that come from? When you had the DHS saying that he was attempting to massacre federal agents, did senior officials there just make that up? Or, you know, even just as concerning, did the agents on the ground really tell their bosses that he pointed a weapon at them before they opened fire? It's hard to figure out where that information came from, but every video we found so far, you know, completely debunks that.