Jake Godin

This fake AI "enhanced" photo is going around. AI "enhancement" doesn't actually enhance things. It invents many fake "details" where none exist. The gun AI invented here doesn't match Pretti's, and the agent has no face.

Bellingcat comparison of the real screenshot, and photo of the gun:

There are several "AI enhanced" images related to the Alex Pretti killing making the rounds. They claim to show new details.

Please keep in mind: AI image upscaling is not a reliable analytical method. AI platforms will in effect "hallucinate" and invent details that are not real.

Team effort!

Alex Pretti: Analysing Footage of Minneapolis CBP Shooting - bellingcat Bellingcat has analysed video of the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The footage appears to contradict statements made by the Department of Homeland Security.

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, on January 24. DHS claims he died after an armed struggle, but videos of the incident appears to contradict that claim. Read our analysis here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/01...

Three-way video sync and slow+zoom showing the moment of the first shot before Alex Pretti was killed by DHS agents in Minneapolis yesterday.

There's some claims that Pretti's gun was the source of the first shot after it was taken from him, though in these videos it doesn't appear that's the case.

The gun that DHS says belongs to Pretti appears to be already in the hands of DHS before the first shot is heard.

YouTube video by Bellingcat Analysis of Alex Pretti Shooting in Minneapolis

We just posted a quick analysis of the shooting of Alex Pretti in Mineapolis. Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkFc...

You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.

Man Feds Killed in Minneapolis Was an Observer, Eyewitness Says The killing marked the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the city in less than a month.

BREAKING: We spoke to a witness of the fatal shooting in Minneapolis, who confirmed that the victim was an ICE-watch observer and not a target of immigration enforcement.

W/ @jsweetli.bsky.social via @theintercept.com theintercept.com/2026/01/24/m...

The gun taken by the agent appears to match the general appearance of the firearm shared online by DHS, and which they said was Pretti’s. This agent’s back is turned from the scene with the gun in his hand when the first shot occurs.

A DHS statement claimed “an individual approached US Border Patrol officers” with “a handgun” in the Alex Pretti shooting incident. A Bellingcat analysis of the footage appears to show that a gun was taken away from where Pretti was situated by an agent just before the first shot was fired.

“.. He cared about people deeply ..,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong ..”

@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/national/202...

I'm seeing people mistakenly claim the gun photo was posted before today, but its just how Google sometimes dates images based on the original date of the thread its posted in, not when it was posted. The photo was posted an hour ago in this 5 day old thread
www.reddit.com/r/fivethirty...

Federal law enforcement agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 according to local police officials. DHS told Fox News that the man was “armed with a gun”. A video of the shooting appears to show that a gun was taken from the man before the first shot was fired. x.com/BillMelugin_...

ICE attempted to order local police from the scene of the Minneapolis shooting, but the police chief refused and instructed his officers to preserve the crime scene.

www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

Masked agents detain civil engineer in Portland, leave his car running in the street with a smashed window The man is in the country on a work visa after receiving a master’s degree at UMaine, his colleagues said.

Masked agents detain civil engineer in Portland, leave his car running in the street with a smashed window * This story has been made free to access as a public service to our Maine communities.

I feel like everyone who followed this story carefully knew that this was the role Canary Mission was playing but didn't have definitive proof yet. It's a weird feeling to just finally have something to point to.

in practice this is a threat of state harassment. being on a list doesn’t add criminal charges or waive your rights. but it ensures every interaction you have with the government will be long and unpleasant. pariah mode.

Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park Following last year’s review, every sign has been removed from the President’s House site.

Look at this: @inquirer.com has digitally preserved the interpretative signage removed by NPS, and used annotations to explain what specifically was flagged before removal. This keeps the content publicly accessible (for now) while doing newsworthy reporting
www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has still not said anything publicly about federal agents raiding the home of one of his reporters last week.

He is, however, using his X account to refute apparent misinformation about himself within a few hours of it being posted.

You can tell real care and thought went into this by the fact the U.S. flag has the wrong number of stripes on it.

This is 100% FALSE. Immigration judges do NOT play any role in issuing administrative warrants. They are generated and signed by ICE officers themselves. ICE’s own training materials say they can’t be used for a search of a home!

Here’s a blank warrant form. Note who signs it.

Worth noting that among those participating in ICE/DHS watch in Minneapolis today — who Emmer appears to frame as “chaos agents” here — are literally hundreds of clergy.

Fact: unless the US undertakes research into how the Greenland Ice Sheet will respond under different emissions scenarios it won't know how to upgrade their harbour infrastructure at Pituffik Space Base.

youtu.be/wog67crWEUI&...

@graphics.reuters.com @evangowan.bsky.social

Love that the weapon someone at DOD has chosen to illustrate this post is not a novel US one, but one of the one-way attack drones *reverse-engineered from Iranian ones* that CENTCOM is pushing into service

Incredible, Greenland's PM is now refuting the one part of this that represented any change to the status quo ante.

*GREENLAND PM: NOT AWARE OF TALKS ON MINERAL RESOURCES

Shot From Above: The Dangerous Work of Drone Journalists in Gaza - bellingcat Examining the high price those documenting devastation in Gaza pay.

Gathering aerial footage of Gaza is a dangerous task, and Bellingcat and our partners led by @forbidden-stories.bsky.social previously identified several cases where drone journalists were killed or injured shortly after capturing aerial images. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/03...

We’ve annotated this satellite imagery from January 20th to show the proximity of where the journalists using a drone were killed to the displacement camps and the nearest IDF outposts in Gaza. The Yellow Line is where Israeli troops withdrew to following the US-brokered deal with Hamas.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino is seen deploying a gas canister at Mueller Park in south Minneapolis this afternoon.

Video by Ben Luhmann.