Who are Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez? CBP agents identified in Alex Pretti killing

Who is Jesus Ochoa?

Ochoa, who is also from South Texas, became a Border Patrol agent in 2018 after receiving a degree in criminal justice degree from the University of Texas-Pan American, his ex-wife Angelica Ochoa told ProPublica. Records show he is a registered Republican who actively votes in elections.

Angelica said that Ochoa had always fantasized about becoming a Border Patrol agent. She divorced him in 2021 after he had grown increasingly obsessed with firearms, with her estimating that he owned about 25 rifles, pistols, and shotguns collectively at the time of their separation.

Who is Raymundo Gutierrez?

Not much is known about Gutierrez, who is also from South Texas. He joined CBP’s Office of Field Operations in 2014 as part of a special response team, which is similar to a SWAT unit.

What do we know about Alex Pretti's shooting?

While Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller have claimed that Pretti brandished his firearm at agents, multiple videos show that is not true — instead Pretti attempted to help a woman who was being pepper-sprayed before ICE agents wrestled him to the ground.

While Pretti was restrained on the ground, agents took his holstered firearm, which he had a legal permit to carry. Once he was unarmed, an unidentified weapon held by one of the agents discharged, and two agents now identified as Ochoa and Gutierrez responded by shooting Pretti at least ten times.

Is Alex Pretti's killing under investigation? 

The Department of Justice announced that it is opening a civil rights investigation into Pretti's shooting, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying at a press conference Friday that it would be involving lawyers at the Civil rights Division "to the extent it needs."

However, local and state authorities say that the investigations have been derailed by the DOJ withholding evidence from them, including Ochoa and Gutierrez's identities. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi January 26 that accused the department of "actively obstructed any investigation into these killings" and demanded it turn over all evidence it has within a week.

"Instead of defending the civil rights of Americans, [DOJ] now appears to be covering up the most egregious civil rights
offenses and systematically condoning the lawless killing of Americans by agents of the government," the letter states.