Alex Pretti’s family says feds are still stonewalling efforts for justice

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Susan and Michael Pretti join CNN's Jake Tapper on The Lead at 5 p.m. Eastern

The parents of Alex Pretti , a US citizen shot and killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis in January, are accusing the Department of Justice of violating their rights under a federal victims' rights law, as they demand transparency and justice in their son's death.

In a July letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche — obtained exclusively by CNN — an attorney representing Michael and Susan Pretti wrote they have not received any substantive updates from the DOJ regarding an investigation into their son's death, and called the department's attitude toward the case "cruel."

"The government's pattern of conduct is not only unconscionable, but unlawful," the letter states.

Pretti's parents on Tuesday accused the federal government of "shielding Alex's killers" by not turning over the entire federal case file to state investigators.

"We will no longer stay silent about the actions of the Department of Justice in the 275 days since Alex's murder," Pretti's father, Michael, said in the family's first news conference since the 37-year-old ICU nurse's death.

The Pretti family met with US Attorney for the District of Minnesota Dan Rosen on July 13, the letter explains, the same day Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced in a news conference federal officials had handed over volumes of evidence from Pretti's shooting.

However, the letter goes on to say that, despite a public acknowledgment from local officials of an evidence-sharing agreement, Rosen refused to provide any information and would not even confirm the arrangement.

"It is impossible to convey how the government's refusal to engage in transparent communication with the Pretti family has compounded their heartbreak," the missive says.

"Further, with each such refusal, U.S. Attorney Rosen even refused to explain the basis for his position, instead stating only that 'I can't tell you for all kinds of reasons,' without providing a single one," according to the letter.

Federal investigators who briefly agreed to share their evidence with state law enforcement have since stopped cooperating , said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is leading a lawsuit against the Department of Justice.

"We are in litigation with the federal government right now to secure the rest of the remaining file, which they could give us this morning if they were inclined to do so, but it looks like we're going to need a court order. I'm sorry that it comes to that," Ellison told CNN's Sara Sidner Tuesday morning. "Any prosecutor can tell you, you can't go forward with half a file. You need the whole thing."

CNN has reached out to the DOJ and the US Attorney for Minnesota.

In its response to Minnesota's lawsuit, the Department of Justice said it is not required to turn over evidence to a state agency before an active court case is underway.

The Pretti family's attorney, Steve Schleicher, says they have heard nothing from the DOJ since sending their letter.

"I've never seen a family treated with such cruelty and disrespect," he said.

Pretti's death was captured in its entirety on video. Like some other incidents that occurred as a result of the Trump administration's ongoing immigration crackdown, the footage from Pretti's shooting differed from the version of events provided by the Department of Homeland Security.

Kristi Noem, then-DHS secretary, initially described Pretti as a "terrorist" who "attacked" officers after "brandishing" a weapon, though the video disputed those claims. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller referred to Pretti as an "assassin" who tried to murder federal agents.

"No one from the federal government called us on that horrible day, but they did go on TV to tell lies about Alex," Michael Pretti said Tuesday.

Video footage shows, minutes before the fatal encounter with Pretti, immigration agents patrolling a Minneapolis street and interacting with bystanders. A witness, Nilson Barahona, told CNN agents were trying to apprehend someone who fled into a donut shop that locked its doors, leaving the group of federal officers on the sidewalk and street. Agents detained one observer as others blew whistles, yelled and recorded video on their phones.

Video shows Pretti attempting to intervene in a scuffle between an observer and the agents.

During the incident, Pretti was pepper-sprayed in the face. One of the officers can be heard in the footage shouting: "Gun! Gun! Gun!" as Pretti is on his knees and bent forward. An agent removed Pretti's gun from his waistband and can be seen exiting the skirmish. At about the same time, one agent drew his service weapon.

About a second after the agent holding Pretti's weapon moved away, the officer who drew his own weapon appeared to fire several shots at Pretti before another agent drew his weapon and a shot rang out. The other officer then raised his gun and fired more shots. At least 10 gunshots can be heard on the video.

The DHS report on its initial investigation into Pretti's death says an officer yelled, "He's got a gun" multiple times before the officers fired.

"It's difficult to get up every day, to function, to be a parent, knowing that your child's never coming home," Susan Pretti told CNN's Jake Tapper after Tuesday's news conference. "No parent should have to live what we're living. No daughter should have to wake up and know that her only sibling is no longer here."

"What the federal government has taken away from us, from his friends, his family, his colleagues, from his patients, from the patients' families. They've taken away all of that — and it's reprehensible," he told Tapper.

Susan Pretti said she knew Alex as her son, but the outpouring of support they've received from his friends and coworkers has helped her see another side of him.

"Every letter and card that we received from his colleagues, telling us who he was, at work … not only helping his patients but his colleagues," Susan Pretti said, choking up. "You know what that's like for a parent to hear? It is probably the kindest thing a parent can ever hear about their child."

Michael Pretti said his trust in the government is fading.

Pretti's death followed the fatal shooting of Renee Good on January 7 and the non-fatal shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis on January 14 by immigration agents during Operation Metro Surge. Those incidents prompted significant protests in Minneapolis and across the country for weeks.

Hennepin County prosecutors have fought the DOJ for key evidence in Pretti's death for months, after federal law enforcement repeatedly threw up blockades to their access.

On the day Pretti was killed, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension attempted to access the scene to launch an investigation but was banned by federal authorities. CNN was on scene the next day when the BCA first accessed the scene on a court order from a state judge.

State and local investigators sued the Trump administration in federal court to obtain evidence in Pretti's killing. After an evidence-sharing agreement between the DOJ and Minnesota investigators was finalized in June, Hennepin County prosecutors received volumes of evidence in Pretti's shooting.

Weeks later, the DOJ abruptly changed course and stopped sharing information, leaving Hennepin County prosecutors unable to access crucial evidence such as the weapons used to shoot Pretti and the firearm Pretti was carrying in his waistband at the time of the altercation, according to court records filed October 13.

The letter from Pretti's parents asks the DOJ to identify the federal employees who shot and killed Pretti, commit to sharing information with state and local investigators, confirm whether the FBI is continuing to investigate Pretti's murder, and return any items of Pretti's personal property no longer needed for evidentiary purposes.

"No family should have to beg the U.S. government to do its job," the letter says. "And no government should act with such caprice."

The Pretti family's attorney declined to say Tuesday whether they would file a suit of their own against the Department of Justice.

"The family will avail itself to any and all remedies in its pursuit of justice for Alex," Schleicher said.

Until they find justice, the family is comforted by shared memories of their son. Michael Pretti recalled a specific camping trip when Alex was about 6 years old. Just as they were wrapping up the weekend and preparing to leave, Alex rode his new bike off a small bridge and into a creek.

"He comes back and he's soaked," Michael Pretti said with a grin, prompting a chuckle from his wife. "That was a good memory, that was a good weekend that stands out," he said, adding "that's probably where his love for hiking and biking started."

CNN's Andy Rose and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.

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