Who is Alex Pretti: the second ICE fatality in Minnesota?

Once again, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is under scrutiny for excessive use of force. Thirty-seven-year-old Alex Pretti was shot and killed this Saturday by federal immigration agents in Minnesota. He is the second fatality in just three weeks, following the death of Renee Good at the hands of a federal agent in the same city. Pretti had participated in protests over Good’s death and, in 2020, over the killing of George Floyd.

Who was Alex Pretti?

The 37-year-old worked as an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center for five years. “Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans […] Alex wanted to make a difference in this world . Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact,” his parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, said in a statement.

Alex Pretti was born in Illinois and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 2011, he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Biology, Society, and Environment. He worked as a research scientist before training to become a nurse.

His family learned about the shooting from an Associated Press reporter. After seeing the graphic video footage, they said it appeared to be Alex Pretti. No authorities provided information until they called a Hennepin County medical examiner and received confirmation that a body matched their son’s name and description.

Authorities’ version

The Department of Homeland Security claims the man was armed and that agents “attempted” to take the weapon from him, but when he allegedly resisted “violently,” the agents fired multiple times “defensive shots.” Commander Gregory Bovino said the man was attempting to “attack law enforcement.”

However, an eyewitness to the shooting said Pretti was shot after trying to help a woman who had been sprayed with pepper spray. “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground […] I didn’t see him touch any of them – he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up,” the witness said.

Trump’s national security advisor, Stephen Miller, claimed—before any investigation was complete—that the man killed was a “domestic terrorist” who “tried to assassinate federal law enforcement,” in a post responding to Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the Pretti family responded in a statement, saying they feel devastated and angry.

Minnesota sues the Trump Administration

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension have sued the Trump administration to prevent the manipulation or destruction of evidence in the killing of Alex Pretti, according to a press release.

“The defendants, and those acting at their direction and under their authority, took from the scene of the shooting, preventing state authorities from inspecting it,” the statement says.

They also filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, the Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it,” Pretti’s mother said in a conversation with the Associated Press.

Chris Gray, one of Pretti’s neighbors, condemned Gregory Bovino’s claim that Pretti tried to “massacre law enforcement.”

Speaking to CNN, he said: “He was part of the fabric of my community, along with immigrants and many other people who represent our neighborhood and the people destroying our neighborhood are these ICE agents who are running around, out of control, who have done nothing to make my life safer, done nothing to make my life better.”

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