The Killers

The killers of Alex Pretti have been identified and, depressingly, they are both Latino men.

The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

The records viewed by ProPublica list Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, as the shooters during the deadly encounter last weekend that left Pretti dead and ignited massive protests and calls for criminal investigations.

Both men were assigned to Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement dragnet launched in December that sent scores of armed and masked agents across the city.

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Ochoa is a Border Patrol agent who joined CBP in 2018. Gutierrez joined in 2014 and works for CBP’s Office of Field Operations. He is assigned to a special response team, which conducts high-risk operations like those of police SWAT units. Records show both men are from South Texas.

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Ochoa, who goes by Jesse, graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American with a degree in criminal justice, according to his ex-wife, Angelica Ochoa. A longtime resident of the Rio Grande Valley, Ochoa had for years dreamed of working for the Border Patrol and finally landed a job there, she said. By the time the couple split in 2021, he had become a gun enthusiast with about 25 rifles, pistols and shotguns, Angelica Ochoa said.

It’s easy to say that the colonized now wants to be the colonizer and I suppose there’s some truth in that. What’s probably more accurate here is that, at least in the case of Ochoa, you have a right-wing gun nut empowered to kill who likes it. The Border Patrol has also long been a major job creator in south Texas. Combine that with the homophobia and misogyny at the heart of the MAGA movement and the belief that “we did it the right way when grandma immigrated” myths and you create a situation where men like this volunteer to act out their fantasies.

But, as the right-wing Cubans being deported in Florida are discovering, a Latino is never going to be accepted as white, no matter how hard you try.