Durham residents on Wednesday gathered outside of Durham Veterans Affairs for a vigil honoring a VA nurse in Minneapolis who was killed by Border Patrol agents.

More than 100 people gathered outside the Durham VA to honor the life of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. The vigil was hosted by the North Carolina chapter of National Nurses United.

“Alex, we are here today because we believe our eyes,” one speaker said.

Pretti was killed on Saturday by Border Patrol agents during widespread protests of immigration enforcement in front of a Minneapolise donut shop.

Video of the encounter was widely circulated online. Former Navy nurse Bernadine Donato, who wore Pretti’s face on her back at the vigil, said the shooting was “horrifying” and that the world lost a great healer.

“I’m about ready to cry, because I think it’s the most awful thing,” said Donato, a nurse with 40 years of experience. “We don’t go out to help people expecting to be executed for it.”

Video of Pretti days before deadly shooting released

Amid the vigil in Durham, new video of Pretti from days before he was shot surfaced online on Wednesday. 

In the video, Pretti is seen spitting on an SUV belonging to federal agents. He is then seen kicking the taillight of the same SUV, which then broke off. Federal agents then got out of the SUV and approached Pretti, eventually tackling him to the ground.

The video initially aired on NBC Nightly News on Wednesday evening. Pretti’s family, who said they were angry about his characterization by top immigration authorities in the immediate aftermath of his death, confirmed the man in the video was Pretti.

The video was dated on Jan. 13, 11 days before his death and nearly a week after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent amid immigration operations in a Minneapolis neighborhood.

Hundreds of Durham residents protested ICE in the days following Good’s death.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said two agents involved in the shooting were placed on leave while DHS contiues its investigation into the shooting.

It was unclear if the department had taken any action regarding the other agents involved in the encounter with Pretti, including those who had helped restrain him on the ground before the two agents fired about 10 bullets into his back and after he slumped onto the street.

In the immediate hours after Pretti’s death, several angles of video were posted online of his encounter with Border Patrol agents.

>>Fact-checking Trump administration claims about fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minnesota

Videos analyzed by The New York Times, CNN, NPR, ABC, Reuters and Bellingcat show Pretti holding a cellphone horizontally in his right hand. 

In the footage, Pretti stands between an officer and two
civilians. The officer disperses pepper spray at Pretti and the people
standing behind him. A still image from bystander video shows Pretti
holding up his left arm in reaction.

Several agents tackle Pretti to the ground. One officer appears
to remove a gun from Pretti’s hip and walk across the street away from
the group. Quickly after, another officer fires several shots at Pretti
as he is restrained by agents.

Pretti had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota, his family told The Associated Press.

The shootings and the immediate aftermath of Pretti’s death have led to several lawmakers, including to Republican senators from North Carolina, to criticize how immigration operations have played ou in Minnesota.

On Tuesday, Senator Ted Budd, R-NC, said on his X profile that Pretti’s death never should have happened and that initial rushes to judgement “did not meet the standard that American’s should expect from their government officials.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Noem, hours after Pretti was killed, labeled Pretti as a “domestic terrorist,” while White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller described the 37-year-old VA nurse as an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents.”

“I’d also like to remind federal leaders that words matter. Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, and the mere possession of a firearm does not represent a threat justifying lethal force,” Budd said.

Senator Thom Tillis, R-NC, in a gaggle outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, told reporters that if he were the president, neither Noem nor Miller would have a job, adding that both have “destroyed”  the immigration issue for Republicans.

“We should own the issue of border security and immigration, but they have destroyed that for Republicans, something that got the president elected,” Tillis said. “They have destroyed it through their incompetence.”

Both Budd and Tillis voted to confirm Noem into her role as DHS secretary.

Trump on Wednesday called Tillis a “loser.” Tillis, in turn, said he was “thrilled” by Trump’s assessment of him.

“That makes me qualified to be Homeland Security secretary and senior advisor to the president,” Tillis said.

Key immigration enforcement figure already reassigned

One key figure in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has already been reassigned from his role amid the fallout from Pretti’s death.

On Monday, Trump administration officials confirmed Boarder Patrol commander Gregory Bovino would leave Minneapolis and that Trump’s border czar, Todd Homan, would be in charge of immigration enforcement in the city.

Bovino drew condemnation for claiming that Pretti had been “planning to massacre” law enforcement, a characterization authorities had not substantiated.

The departure accompanies a softer tone from Trump on the Minnesota crackdown, including the president’s touting of productive conversations with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Bovino’s leadership of highly visible federal crackdowns, including operations that sparked mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and Minneapolis, has drawn fierce criticism from local officials, civil rights advocates and congressional Democrats.

Protesters in Durham, including Durham VA nurse Anne Phillips, said they hope Pretti’s death will lead to change.

“I agree that people should come here in certain pathways, but this is not the way to do it,” Phillips said. “This is not the way to enforce.”

The Associated Press and Politifact contributed to this report.