By Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — Two days after Department of Homeland Security officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a confused investigation is unfurling. The Justice Department has not opened a civil rights investigation, a crisis coordination center was erected in Minneapolis to investigate protesters and senior administration officials won’t definitively say whether Pretti had been disarmed before the shooting.
The Department of Homeland Security’s investigation agency (HSI) is leading the federal investigation into the shooting, officials say, with the FBI acting in a supportive role – including by processing physical evidence.
“We’re in possession of the firearm,” FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday of Pretti’s gun, adding that the FBI would analyze it at their own laboratory.
Although HSI hasn’t historically conducted criminal investigations into use of force incidents by federal authorities, HSI has assisted, coordinated with and supported such investigations when appropriate, according to former DHS officials. It is unusual for them to co-lead with FBI.
The investigation, one of several being conducted into the shooting, was preempted by public officials in the hours after the shooting airing competing narratives and firm conclusions in the absence of evidence — raising the likelihood that any conclusion it reaches will be scrutinized by a skeptical public.
As of Monday afternoon, a small group of investigators were reviewing public footage of the incident and video taken from as many as 30 body worn cameras that officers —– including several involved in the incident —– were wearing that day.
In the moments before his death, Pretti can be seen in video from the scene moving between a DHS agent and a woman the agent pushed to the ground. The agent sprays Pretti with a chemical irritant and drags him to his knees before several others quickly move on top of Pretti with officers standing over him and pushing him to the ground as he appears to resist.
A CNN video analysis appears to show a federal immigration officer removing a gun from Alex Pretti just prior to officers fatally shooting him.
In the confusion and struggle with Pretti, one of the agents, who was part of the melee, can be heard asking “who had a gun” after shots were fired, according to a source familiar. Videos collected from the scene are under review internally.
Investigators have also conducted interviews with the officers and are still in the very early stages of the investigation.
Other investigations into the shooting
Under previous Democratic and Republican administrations, the Justice Department has investigated whether law enforcement officials used excessive force in officer-involved shootings.
In those instances, local law enforcement requests the assistance of the FBI and their expansive investigative resources, and the two work together to meticulously gather evidence, conduct interviews and share information.
Federal officials keep their investigative eye towards violations of civil rights laws, while local law enforcement focus on potential murder or assault charges.
The Justice Department has not launched a civil rights investigation, a department official told CNN, but said it will “if the evidence presents itself.”
The information sharing practice was not followed in the wake of Rene Good’s shooting by an ICE official just a few weeks ago — the FBI quickly cut out local Minnesota investigators, essentially ending their investigation. And the FBI then shifted the focus of its probe to whether Good and those around her committed a crime against the officer, as opposed to his conduct in the shooting, Read more