Judge Lifts Order To Preserve Evidence In Alex Pretti Shooting

Federal agents in Minnesota appear to have mishandled the firearm they grabbed from Alex Pretti’s waistband during last month’s fatal struggle, a judge declared Monday.

But U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud found that the apparent error — as well as inflammatory statements by the White House and Trump administration officials — was not enough to justify his continued supervision of the handling of evidence from the scene of Pretti’s death in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.

In an 18-page ruling, Tostrud said Monday that he would lift a restraining order he granted last week after state and local officials raised alarm that Department of Homeland Security personnel may have failed to safeguard crucial evidence from the crime scene.

“Though the record is not one-sided, the greater weight of the evidence shows Defendants are not likely to destroy or improperly alter evidence related to Mr. Pretti’s shooting during the life of this case, and other relevant considerations do not on balance favor a continuing preservation order,” the Trump-appointed judge wrote.

While the judge agreed to allow federal officials to continue their investigation without restriction from the court, he coupled that conclusion with sharp criticism of White House Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over their public comments painting Pretti as someone with the intention of killing federal law enforcement agents.

“These statements are troubling,” Tostrud wrote. “They reflect, not a genuine interest in learning the truth, but snap judgments informed by speculation and motivated by political partisanship.”

Tostrud said some evidence was probably damaged or lost in the initial hours of the investigation when state officials were initially denied access to the shooting scene by federal officials, who later retreated, leaving the area unsecured. But he attributed any compromises to the “volatile” crowd that forced agents from the scene, rather than failures by federal agents or breaches of investigative protocol.

“The record here shows the loss or spoliation more likely resulted from exigent circumstances, not from Defendants’ substandard evidence-gathering or preservation activities,” Tostrud wrote.

The judge repeatedly said concerns about possible evidence destruction have been mitigated by the FBI taking over the lead role in the investigation. However, it does not appear Tostrud had any direct confirmation of that change from the federal government. The judge attributed his knowledge of that shift to media reports.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement Monday that in the wake of the judge’s latest ruling, she expects the Trump administration to fulfill a promise to preserve all evidence relevant to the shooting and she said she is still pushing to gain access to the evidence in possession of the feds.

“The federal government has… pledged publicly and under oath to the court that it would preserve evidence related to the shooting. We expect them to do what they have pledged to do: preserve evidence of this fatal shooting,” Moriarty said. “Preservation was step one. Access is step two and those efforts are already well underway.”

Spokespeople for the White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Officials with the Minnesota Attorney General’s office also did not respond immediately to requests for comment.