Deputy AG Blanche: DOJ Opened Civil Rights Investigation Into CBP Shooting Death of Alex Pretti; Also Investigating Left Wing Groups Behind Anti-ICE Harassment Campaign
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Friday at a press conference about a new batch of documents being released from the Epstein Files that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation into the shooting death last Saturday in Minneapolis of anti-ICE activist Alex Pretti.
Blanche also have a short, “yes,” response when asked in the context of the Pretti shooting, “Are you looking at a nexus of left-wing groups? This DOJ said that that’s something that you guys were concerned about. Are you following money? Are you looking at a potential that all of this may be related somewhere?”
Blanche replied, “I mean, yes.”
Pretti, 37, was shot and killed while filming and resisting arrest after assaulting a CBP agent during an immigration enforcement operation. Pretti was armed with a handgun and backup ammunition. As several agents tried to pin a struggling Pretti down, the gun was discovered in his rear waistband and removed by an agent a moment before two other agents opened fire on him.
A nationwide argument has erupted over whether the shooting death of Pretti was justified, with Democrats using the incident to try to block funding for ICE and Homeland Security in an effort to cripple immigration enforcement.
Blanche was asked questions about the Pretti shooting at different points in the press conference. When asked where were the agents’ guns used in the shooting as well as Pretti’s cellphone, Blanche said he did not know.
Blanche also said the newly discovered video of Pretti acting violently at an earlier action against ICE would not change the investigation. Pretti was recorded spitting, screaming and cursing at agents before kicking and destroying a tail light on a federal vehicle while carrying a concealed gun in his waistband. In a situation similar to that which led to his death, agents swarmed Pretti but that time he was able to fight them off and elude arrest.
When asked whether a similar civil rights investigation was being done for the ICE shooting death of anti-ICE activist Renee Good after she hit an agent with her car, Blanch explained that not every officer involved shooting warrants a civil rights investigation.
Video clips of Blanche commenting on the Pretti investigation:
When asked if the Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the death of Alex Pretti, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “Yes.”
Read more: https://t.co/3c7E2elmBB pic.twitter.com/feNvpTa5c6
— ABC News (@ABC) January 30, 2026
Q: Where the guns? Are they in the FBI's possession? And who has the phone that Pretti used to film?
BLANCHE: I don't know. I don't have answers to those questions.
Q: Wouldn't that be something the FBI would need to conduct a thorough investigation?
BLANCHE: I was simply… pic.twitter.com/x9NJx56MH2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2026
Q: For transparency, would you commit to releasing the body cam video from federal officers involved in the Pretti shooting and their names?
BLANCHE: I'm not committing to anything pic.twitter.com/2MC2epyCM2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2026
Blanche on Renee Good: "There are thousands — unfortunately — of law enforcement events every year where somebody is shot. The civil rights department of the DOJ does not investigate every one of those shootings." pic.twitter.com/FAJlPMWus8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2026
Complete press briefing by Blanche:
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