Minneapolis ICE shooting sparks calls for full investigation (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: A growing number of politicians from President Trump's Republican Party are joining calls for a full investigation following the second fatal shooting this month by U.S. federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Thousands of people have been marching through the city to protest against the killing. The Trump administration insists that Alex Pretty, who is 37, was planning to assault officers. Well, local officials say that makes no sense because videos of the incident do not show him brandishing a gun. The former Democratic president, Barack Obama, said the shooting was a heart-breaking tragedy and should be a wake-up call. He also accused the Trump administration of offering explanations which video evidence appeared to contradict. His predecessor, Bill Clinton, has described the events in Minneapolis as horrible scenes that I never thought would take place in America. Well, let's get more now from Tom Bateman, who's in Minneapolis, and a warning you might find some of the scenes in his report distressing.

[00:01:02] Speaker 2: Mourners have been returning to the spot where Alex Pretty was killed, the second American shot dead by immigration officers in a month in Minneapolis. They lay claim to his legacy in what has become a battle with the Trump administration over both values and narrative. The state's Democrat governor, Tim Walz, appealed to the country to choose.

[00:01:24] Speaker 3: I've got a question for all of you. What side do you want to be on? The side of an all-powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace, and kidnap its citizens off the streets, or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such government?

[00:01:41] Speaker 2: But the man now known on the streets for fronting Mr Trump's deportation drive was doubling down.

[00:01:47] Speaker 4: I would implore upon any individuals, whether they're anarchists, rioters, or anyone else that thinks it wise to go into a law enforcement scene to disrupt, to delay, is to don't do that.

[00:02:04] Speaker 2: Several videos show the moments leading up to Mr Pretty's death. Pushed and pepper sprayed and wrestled to the ground, agents then appeared to disarm him with a handgun, which police say he had a permit to carry before immigration agents shot him multiple times. Alex Pretty was 37, an intensive care nurse who treated sick military veterans. His family says the administration's version of him is totally untrue.

[00:02:35] Speaker 5: He cared about people deeply, and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States.

[00:02:45] Speaker 2: A call for justice here faces the full counterweight of the Trump administration, accusing a city of inciting an insurrection. Divisions laid bare in blood, and Minneapolis mourns again. Tom Bateman, BBC News, Minnesota.

[00:03:02] Speaker 1: Well, the BBC's Karl Nasman is also in Minneapolis.

[00:03:07] Speaker 6: This city now grieving for the second time in just a matter of weeks. You can see behind me, this is the memorial to Alex Pretty. This is the site, of course, where that altercation took place, and throughout the day, we've seen hundreds of people coming here to pay their respects, leave flowers and messages and light candles. This all coming less than three weeks after the death of Renee Good. And amid the protests, amid the vigils, there's now a political battle brewing over who's to blame for the chaos in this city. We've heard the Trump administration placing that blame at the feet of local lawmakers. They say they are stoking these protests, encouraging people to block ICE activity here, which is designed, they say, to remove dangerous criminals from the city. On the other hand, officials like Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of the state, blames Donald Trump and his immigration policy. But I do think it's notable that we're now hearing from some high-profile Republican lawmakers. These are senators now questioning some of these ICE tactics and calling for an independent investigation into this latest shooting. One senator putting it very simply that the credibility of ICE is at stake.

[00:04:21] Speaker 1: Well, BBC Verify has analysed videos of the shooting from multiple angles, piecing together a detailed picture of what happened. Ros Atkins' report contains footage which, again, you may find distressing.

[00:04:35] Speaker 7: The first video we have of Alex Preti, he's in the road, holding a phone and talking with a federal agent. The officer pushes him and he steps backwards. Kristi Noem is US Homeland Security Secretary. This is her account of why Alex Preti died.

[00:04:50] Speaker 8: An individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently.

[00:05:02] Speaker 7: But in this video, as in others, Alex Preti had nothing in one hand, a phone in the other. We see two people interacting with an agent. We then see an agent push one of those people, then push the second person. Alex Preti steps between them and the agent and is pepper sprayed. He's wrestled to the ground by a number of agents. He's on his knees, bent over. His hands are on the floor and he's struggling against being held down. One agent repeatedly strikes in the direction of his head. And take note of this agent. He has nothing in his right hand, reaches down and removes what appears to be a gun from Alex Preti's waistband. Then he steps back, holding the pistol, which appears to match this image shared by the authorities. Carrying this type of gun is legal in Minnesota with a valid permit. The police say they believe Alex Preti had one. Less than a second after the gun is removed, an agent fires the first shot. As Alex Preti lies motionless, further shots are fired while agents are standing clear of his body. In total, 10 shots were fired in 5 seconds. In all of these videos, we don't see Alex Preti holding a gun, but once more we have seen an American killed in the street by federal agents, followed by the Trump administration making claims about what happened.