US Justice Department opens civil rights probe into killing of Alex Pretti

The US Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol officers on January 24, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday.“We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened,” Blanche said during a news conference.Blanche did not explain why the DOJ decided to open an investigation into Pretti’s killing, but has said a similar probe is not warranted in the January 7 death of Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.He said only on Friday that the Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement shooting and that there have to be circumstances and facts that “warrant an investigation”.“President Trump has said repeatedly, ‘Of course, this is something we’re going to investigate,’” Blanche said of the Pretti shooting.Steve Schleicher, a Minneapolis-based lawyer representing Pretti’s parents, said on Friday that “the family’s focus is on a fair and impartial investigation that examines the facts around his murder”.