The FBI has formally rejected Minnesota state investigators’ request to access evidence tied to Alex Pretti’s death during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement-related operation.
That refusal landed with a thud at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which has been seeking evidence and information connected to the federal government’s investigation into Pretti’s Jan. 24 death.
On Monday, BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said the agency was notified by the FBI the previous day that it would not provide the BCA with any information or evidence collected in relation to Pretti’s death.
Evans called the development "concerning and unprecedented," according to the Washington Examiner.
He also said the BCA would continue pursuing "all legal avenues to gain access to relevant" records. To this point, local officials, and this would include Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, have been extremely frustrated over the fact that the federal government is running all of these investigations without any input or oversight from local authorities.
The narrative that Democrats are pushing is that the feds want control simply to exonerate their officers. Believe me, if Democrats can weaponize something, they will, and this is a powder keg just waiting to explode.
Evans said the agency has offered to share what it has obtained with federal authorities if the FBI changes course, and he said the BCA would welcome a joint investigation.
In a statement, Evans said:
"Our agency has committed to the FBI and Department of Justice that should its stance change, we remain willing to share information that we have obtained with that agency and would welcome a joint investigation,"
The basic reality remains: Minnesota’s state-level investigators want access, and the FBI has declined.
The clash comes in the shadow of another investigation described as a “similar lethal encounter with ICE” involving Renee Good.
In the Good case, the Trump administration argued that state investigators did not hold jurisdiction over the investigation.
With Democrats regularly touting these deaths as a murder and an execution. Honestly, it is not surprising that federal authorities want to keep Walz and Frey as far away from this investigation as possible.
They appear to have reached a conclusion and will work backwards to prove it rather than allowing the evidence to dictate the outcome of the investigation.
State Democrats expressed concern that the FBI’s investigations into Pretti and Good would be biased due to statements the Trump administration made before the inquiry unfolded.
According to reports, a top adviser to President Donald Trump claimed Pretti was an "assassin," and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem characterized Pretti and Good as "domestic terrorists" immediately after the shootings.
Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has been among state officials pushing for the BCA to be involved with the shooting investigation.
In early January, after Good was shot dead, Frey stated, "Our ask is to embrace the truth."
He also said:
"Our ask is to include the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in this process because we, in Minneapolis, want a fair investigation."
Evans has pledged to keep pressing for records through “all legal avenues.” That’s the next chapter that matters—because once evidence becomes a bargaining chip in a jurisdictional fight, the public is left watching institutions argue over access instead of watching institutions deliver answers.
Pretti is dead. Good is dead. And the fight now is over who gets to see what the federal government collected, and who doesn’t.
That’s not a side issue. That’s the story.