Bennie Thompson appears to display AI-gen image of Alex Pretti shooting, Border Patrol agent with no head, in Congressional hearing on ICE

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) appeared to show an AI-generated photo of the shooting Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January. The AI photo makes it appear as if the Border Patrol agent shot Pretti execution-style in the back of the head, which did not take place, and it also shows an agent with no head and a robotic leg.

Thomspon said on Tuesday in Congress that Border Patrol agents were seen "killing [Pretti] in broad daylight. In the video of the incident, a DHS agent can be seen cheering Pretti's death. Americans watch the video in horror." He made the comments in a hearing surrounding oversight for DHS. Reuters, NBC and other outlets have debunked the photo he appeared to use in Congress.

Reuters said of the image "The image, however, has visual inconsistencies suggesting the use of AI, including that a kneeling agent is headless. The altered scene does not match, opens new tab the details of a similar frame from authentic bystander video verified by Reuters. J. Rosenbaum, an AI researcher, opens new tab at RMIT University in Melbourne, told Reuters the viral image is AI."

NBC said "One image that appears to have been manipulated with AI, showing the ICU nurse falling forward as a federal officer points a gun at his back, has been viewed over 9 million times on X (even as it received a community note that the image had been enhanced by AI). Among other AI-fabricated details, the still image features an ICE officer without a head." They noted that Illinois Senator Dick Durbin also "displayed the image during a speech on the floor of the Senate... apparently without realizing the image was not authentic."

Dubin's office told NBC "Our office used a photo on the Senate floor that had been widely circulated online. Staff didn’t realize until after the fact that the image had been slightly edited and regret that this mistake occurred."

On Tuesday, Thompson said that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem made up a story about Pretti's death. Noem, as well as other DHS officials after the shooting, suggested that Pretti appeared to be there to kill law enforcement because he had multiple magazines and a firearm. Pretti was licensed to carry the firearm.

Pretti was disarmed as he was wrestled to the ground before he was shot. Pretti's death followed his other run-ins with immigration officials in Minneapolis as the Trump administration was surging ICE and DHS personnel to the state. Pretti was part of ICE watch networks that work to undermine and interfere with ICE activities in the state by coordinating agitators in real time to stalk and obstruct officers.

Pretti's death followed the fatal shooting of Renee Good, who was shot while ramming her car into an ICE agent in Minneapolis while impeding ICE enforcement activity. Since the shootings, the Trump administration has put Border Czar Tom Homan in charge of the immigration operation in Minnesota.