is the video of alex pretti kicking the car real
The short answer: Yes, major outlets and fact‑checkers now say the video is real and shows Alex Pretti kicking the car, though debate continues about what it “means.”
Quick Scoop: What’s Been Confirmed
- BBC News has publicly said that the viral clip is authentic footage , not an AI fake or deepfake, and that it was filmed 11 days before the shooting.
- BBC journalists reported using facial‑recognition tools and matching the man’s coat, facial hair and gait to Alex Pretti, with a reported 97% match.
- Snopes has also published a breakdown explaining how they verified that the footage showing a clash between Pretti and federal agents is real, not a fabricated video.
- A TV segment from ABC7 describes the same scene: a man appearing to be Pretti shouting at agents, spitting toward them, and then kicking a federal vehicle and breaking a back light before being tackled.
Taken together, mainstream newsrooms and an independent fact‑checking outlet are treating the clip as genuine footage of a real incident involving Pretti.
Why People Were Doubting It
Even with confirmations, a lot of the forum discussion and commentary is about whether the clip could be AI‑generated or manipulated.
- Commentators on YouTube and other platforms have openly wondered if the video might be an AI fake, precisely because it surfaced after his death and fits a political narrative.
- Some online posts talk about how “if this ends up being AI, we need to rethink everything,” reflecting wider anxiety about deepfakes in political and policing stories.
- On Reddit and social feeds, you can find people explicitly saying they “don’t care if it’s real” because, to them, the clip reinforces how they feel about Pretti or the agents, which fuels more drama around the video itself.
So the doubt comes less from concrete evidence of fakery and more from distrust of media, timing of the release, and general fear of deepfakes.
How Big Outlets Are Framing It
Different outlets are using the same basic facts but framing the clip in different ways.
- BBC and other mainstream reports focus on verification: who filmed it (a documentary crew), when (January 13), and the sequence of events (shouting, spitting, kick, agents respond).
- Fact‑checking coverage (like Snopes) zeroes in on “Is this really him?” and conclude yes, the footage is genuine and matches known details of the incident.
- Cable news and commentary channels (Fox, YouTube political shows, etc.) use the video to argue about federal force, immigration enforcement, “sanctuary cities,” and Pretti’s character, not just the authenticity question.
In other words, the reality of the video is now largely accepted by big newsrooms; the fight has shifted to what it says about Pretti, the agents, and the shooting itself.
Forum & Social Reactions (Multi‑View)
You see a few main reactions in forums and comment threads:
- “It’s real, and it makes him worse.”
- Some users argue the clip shows him as reckless or dangerous, claiming it undercuts narratives that he was completely non‑confrontational.
- “It’s real, but doesn’t justify the shooting.”
- Others say: yes, he kicked a car, but that doesn’t come close to justifying being shot multiple times days later, and they warn against using this one clip to rewrite the whole story.
- “Might be AI / manipulated.”
- A smaller but loud group remains suspicious, pointing to AI audio, strange crowd behavior, or timing; they often admit they don’t have proof , just distrust.
- “I don’t care if it’s real.”
- Some posts explicitly say they like him more seeing him kick the SUV, or that the act doesn’t change their moral view of what happened later.
These reactions keep the video trending because every camp reads the same footage in a different way.
Bottom line
- Multiple independent and mainstream sources have verified the video as genuine footage of Alex Pretti kicking a federal agents’ vehicle, filmed 11 days before his death.
- There is still online speculation, but it isn’t backed by stronger evidence than what BBC, the documentary crew, and fact‑checkers have already provided.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.