'It bothered me': Father who led push for outside police reviews in Wisconsin troubled by feds' handling of Pretti case
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The man behind the push to make Wisconsin the first state requiring independent reviews of police-involved deaths said Wednesday he's troubled by how federal agencies appear to be investigating themselves in the wake of two deadly shootings this month in Minneapolis.
Bell said Saturday's shooting death of Alex Pretti, who had previous ties to Wisconsin, reminded him of when Kenosha police officers shot and killed his son, Michael Bell, Jr., in 2004.
In that incident, Bell's private investigators concluded an officer hooked his holster on a side mirror while struggling with Bell, Jr. after a traffic stop. Fearing Bell, Jr. was going for the officer's gun, another officer fired a point-blank shot into the side of Bell, Jr.'s head.
Bell said Wednesday the circumstances are similar to Saturday. Eyewitness cell phone videos show one U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) disarming Pretti, and his gun may have accidentally discharged. Two officers then fired multiple shots at Pretti, CBP wrote in a report to Congress.
"It bothered me because, essentially, this is what had occurred in my son's death," Bell told CBS 58 Wednesday from his home in Arizona. "An officer, it looks like, assumed something, made a mistake, used deadly force, and then, they investigate themselves to protect themselves from any repercussions."
In the Bell shooting, Kenosha Police reviewed their own officers' conduct and ruled the shooting justified. Bell later sued the city and settled for nearly $2 million. He spent much of the money on a billboard campaign that raised the question of why a police department was allowed to investigate itself following a deadly incident.
Bell's work eventually paid off in 2014. Then-Governor Scott Walker singed a bill into law requiring outside agencies to lead the investigations into incidents where police either killed or critically hurt someone.
Bell criticized CBP and Department of Homeland Security officials for not bringing in an outside entity to lead the investigation into Pretti's death. He also bristled at reports federal officers tried to order Minneapolis police officer away from the scene.
"You gotta give the officer the benefit of the doubt, but let's at least have an honest review," Bell said.
Former Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm expressed similar concerns about the situation Minneapolis, where federal officers killed both Pretti and Renee Good in shootings this month.
In both cases, federal agencies appear to be investigating their own officers. Chisholm also criticized how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and top homeland security advisor Stephen Miller publicly used terms such as "domestic terrorist" or "assassin" to describe Good and Pretti within hours of their deaths.
"If you jump to conclusions right away and you justify, then the evidence starts leaking out slowly, you lose all credibility," Chisholm said. "And once you've lost that credibility, you don't get it back."
Chisholm said he believed there could eventually be a path for Minnesota authorities to conduct their own review and possibly charge one or more of the CBP agents involved in Pretti's death.
However, he said such a review might not be complete until after there's a new presidential administration that turns over all of its evidence from the shootings.
In fact, Chisholm suggested states may need to start considering new laws of constitutional amendments that "give teeth" as it relates to citizens' abilities to sue federal officers or agencies for alleged civil rights violations.
"Nobody could imagine a circumstance where the Department of Justice would be viewed as not being independent or impartial," Chisholm said. "But I think that's what's at risk right now."