Congress Must Investigate DHS Evidence Destruction Now

When federal agents kill someone, the truth should come out immediately. 

Instead, after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minnesota, the Department of Homeland Security shut investigators out and locked evidence away.

Now, a Trump-appointed federal judge has issued an emergency order barring DHS from destroying evidence. Judges do not do that without serious cause. But as we’ve seen before, the Trump administration will keep appealing until they find a judge that will take their side. That’s why Congress must act.

Tell Congress: “Investigate whether the Department of Homeland Security and federal agencies are destroying evidence and blocking impartial investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and immigrants in ICE custody. Protect the evidence and hold officials who break the law accountable.” 

Minnesota officials had a lawful warrant to investigate the killing of Alex Pretti. DHS still blocked access to the scene and refused to turn over body camera footage, surveillance video, and other critical evidence. The state was forced to sue just to stop DHS from destroying or altering what mattered most. 

This is just the beginning. If DHS can control, delay, or erase evidence whenever a federal agent kills someone, accountability becomes optional. Families are denied answers. Communities are told to trust an agency that refuses transparency. And federal law enforcement gains the power to decide what the public never sees.

Congress must act now. Lawmakers need to subpoena all evidence in the Alex Pretti case, demand sworn testimony from DHS leadership, and investigate whether DHS policies encouraged withholding or destroying evidence. Congress must ensure no federal agency can ever hide the truth after a death.

Sign now—before accountability disappears along with the proof.

The petition to Congress reads: “Investigate whether the Department of Homeland Security and federal agencies are destroying evidence and blocking impartial investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and immigrants in ICE custody. Protect the evidence and hold officials who break the law accountable.”