The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as
Border Patrol agent #Jesus #Ochoa
and Customs and Border Protection officer #Raymundo #Gutierrez.
The records viewed by ProPublica list Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, as the shooters during the deadly encounter last weekend
that left Pretti dead and ignited massive protests and calls for criminal investigations.
Both men were assigned to Operation Metro Surge,
an immigration enforcement dragnet launched in December
that sent scores of armed and masked agents across the city.
CBP, which employs both men,
has so far refused to release their names and has disclosed few other facts about the deadly incident,
which came days after a different immigration agent shot and killed another Minneapolis protester,
a 37-year-old mother of three named Renee Good.
Pretti’s killing, and the subsequent secrecy surrounding the agents involved, comes as the country confronts the consequences of Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
The sweeps in cities across the country have been marked by scenes of violence,
against immigrants and U.S. citizens,
by agents allowed to hide their identities with masks
— an almost unheard of practice in law enforcement.
As a result, the public has been kept from one of the chief ways it has to hold officers involved in such altercations accountable:
their identity.
Both Democratic and Republicanlawmakers have called for a transparent investigation into the killing of Pretti,
a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse working at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.
“We must have a transparent, independent investigation into the Minnesota shooting,
and those responsible
—no matter their title
—must be held accountable,”
Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah wrote on X on Monday.
