Does video show an ICE agent taking a handgun from a man two seconds before another ICE agent began shooting the man? A frame-by-frame look at the first viral video of the incident shared on social media does show a federal agent in a gray coat reaching down with his right hand and then standing up with something in his right hand that could be a handgun. Later video from an angle to the left of the first video, more clearly shows the agent in the gray coat walking away with a gun. Gunshots are then heard, and that agent turns his head toward the shooting.
The video was widely shared online in the hours after the January 24, 2026, incident on a Minneapolis sidewalk, but the short clip slowing the video down was shared a post (archived here) with the caption:
BREAKING: The man killed by federal agents in Minneapolis was literally just standing there RECORDING them.
Witness video shows him filming, not attacking. Minutes later he's on the ground being shot.
They escalated a camera into a corpse.
That's not "law enforcement." That's an execution.
This is the first frame of the full video intially shared on X.com:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)
The video from the second angle, posted on X by @Gumm006 (archived here), more clearly shows the gun in the agent's hand. Lead Stories has reached out to @Gumm006 for information about the video and will update this fact check when they reply.
In the @Gumm006 video at time code :38, the agent in grey is seen crouched over the back of the man under the scrum of agents, then stepping away with a gun in his right hand. Here is a sequence of screengrabs from the video.
The full video is 39 seconds long. This X post slows down and rewinds a segment about 15 seconds into the video, showing an agent wearing a gray coat who bends down and reaches toward the man on the ground with his right hand:
It appears from zooming in just moments before ICE/CBP shoot yet another US citizen, one agent removes the victims firearm from his waste holster.
-- Austin MacNamara (@gremloe) January 24, 2026
The victim was UNARMED when he was shot multiple times.
This is a state execution. Again. pic.twitter.com/bJKnijPq3H
This is at :16. The agent in the gray coat is bent over the man and has his right hand near the man on the ground.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)
At :19, the agent starts to stand up and there is something visible in his right hand.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)
A fraction of a second later, still at the :19 timecode, there is another view of the possible gun.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)
A few frames later, another look at his hand.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)
At the :20 mark, the agent in the gray coat is seen walking away with something in his left hand.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)
At :21, just as first shot is fired, the man in gray coat quickly turns his head toward the scuffle.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)
