Widely circulated video of Pretti’s killing by federal agents undercut earlier assertions of him being a gunman
White House officials sought to rapidly distance Donald Trump and top officials from their initial portrayals of the man fatally shot by federal officials in Minnesota as a gunman, as they faced a deepening backlash after video footage was widely seen to undercut their assertions.
The move came as Trump advisers appeared to realize that the caustic portrayals of the man, Alex Pretti, who was reportedly licensed to carry a gun, had turned the killing into an even larger political liability for the president.
Over the weekend, senior administration officials including Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff, called the victim “a domestic terrorist who tried to assassinate law enforcement”, while Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, accused him of perpetrating “the definition of domestic terrorism”.
Pretti’s pistol is a Sig P230
Which has (allegedly) issues with what appears to be called “uncommanded” discharge
That is, a discharge when being handled otherwise normally, and therefore neither accidental nor negligent.
It is possible, though I would see this as NO EXCUSE, that Pretti’s gun discharged and the ice agent fired (wrongly) in reaction to that noise.
Some close analysis of the frame-by-frame appear to clearly show the slide pushed back, while in the same frame seeming to show gray jacket with four fingers around the grip and none inside the trigger guard.
HOWEVER I am not a video expert
This (and every killing which involved an ice/cbp operation) deserved to be thoroughly and impartially investigated