Jonathan Turley Flags ‘Legitimate Questions’ Surrounding Border Patrol Shooting Of Anti-ICE Demonstrator

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley noted that questions about the fatal shooting of a man by a Border Patrol agent Saturday were “legitimate” after initial accounts from the Department of Homeland Security were apparently contradicted by video.

A Border Patrol agent fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti Saturday during a scuffle while a “targeted” enforcement operation was underway in Minneapolis, triggering riots. Turley said that it would be important to review the moments before an agent shouted a warning about the pistol Pretti was reportedly carrying.

“I do believe that there was an unforced error with regard to the administration and their initial accounts of the shooting,” Turley told “America Reports” co-hosts John Roberts and Sandra Smith. “Those accounts are not borne out by those videotapes. I mean, it does not appear that he was threatening the officer. It appears that this certainly escalated after that first contact. And that is not the impression you received from those early statements.”

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Turley observed that Pretti had failed to follow orders from the agents, repeatedly going into the road.

“He was not obeying orders, that is also clear,” Turley said. “He came back into the road after being told to get out of the road, but what we really need to see is that short period before you hear an officer say gun. There’s an indication that one of the officers removed his gun and during that period, one of the other officers said gun and the shooting occurred shortly after that.”

Turley also noted that Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota had painted himself into a corner by referring to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as “Gestapo.”