Justice Dept. opens civil rights inquiry into killing of Alex Pretti

The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was killed in Minneapolis last weekend by federal immigration agents, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday. The announcement marked a significant reversal in the department’s approach to Mr.

Pretti’s killing, suggesting that after a week of lacerating criticism it had decided to handle the high-profile incident more like other fatal shootings by law-enforcement officers. Mr. Blanche sought to downplay the inquiry. "I don’t want to overstate what is happening," he said.

"I don’t want the takeaway to be there is some massive civil rights investigation. I would describe it as a standard investigation by the F.B.I." He also said the F.B.I. would be in charge of the investigation, along with lawyers from the Justice Department’s civil rights division, and that "we are looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day." Earlier in the week, court papers had said the inquiry would be led by investigators from the Department of Homeland Security and would focus on whether agents violated internal protocols and training standards rather than the broader question of civil-rights violations.

The papers said Homeland Security Investigations would lead, assisted by Customs and Border Protection and the F.B.I. On Friday, a Homeland Security spokesperson said the F.B.I. would now take the lead and H.S.I. would play a secondary role.

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