Remember Alex Pretti

Pretti’s mother said her son cared immensely about the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.

An undated handout image of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by U.S. immigration agents as they tried to detain him in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., obtained by Reuters on January 25, 2026. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/Handout via Reuters.

Who was Alex Pretti, the intensive care nurse shot dead in Minneapolis?

By Jacob Phillips | BBC | January 25, 2026

A man who was shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis has been identified by his family as 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti.

He has been described as an avid outdoorsman who loved mountain biking and is understood to have joined protests after Renee Good, also 37, was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in her car earlier this month.

Conflicting accounts have emerged about the moments leading up to his death.

**“They shot him so many times,” a witness says in a court declaration.**

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an agent fired in self-defence after Pretti, who they claim had a handgun, resisted attempts to disarm him. Some eyewitnesses and officials, as well as Pretti’s family, have challenged that account.

Videos show no evidence to support the claim he used any armed force to threaten agents.

Pretti worked as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital, his family said in a statement. They told the Associated Press news agency (AP) that he was upset by US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration in the city.

A US citizen born in Illinois, Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.

He went to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment.

FULL STORY

A CNN video analysis appears to show a federal immigration officer removing a gun from Alex Pretti just prior to officers fatally shooting him. Bystander video shows one agent reaching into the scrum of other officers seeking to restrain Pretti and retrieving a weapon that appears to match the firearm the Department of Homeland Security says Pretti possessed.

0:00 CNN correspondent breaks down video of the Minneapolis shooting

2:52 Video appears to show agent taking gun from Alex Pretti

3:41 Former FBI Deputy Director reacts to the shooting

6:22 Will there be an investigation into Alex Pretti’s death?

#Minneapolis #AlexPretti #News

“I unapologetically believe in border security and deporting criminal illegal aliens and I support law enforcement. However, I also unapologetically support the 2nd amendment,” Greene wrote. “Legally carrying a firearm is not the same as brandishing a firearm. I support American’s 1st and 4th amendment rights,” she continued. “There is nothing wrong with legally peacefully protesting and videoing.” Source
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE

Man shot and killed by federal officers in Minnesota was an ICU nurse, his parents say

January 25, 2026 (PBS) – The man was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse. The officer who shot Pretti is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.

Pretti’s family released a statement Saturday evening saying they are “heartbroken but also very angry” and calling him a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” the statement said. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”

‘It is wrong’: Witness in court docs disputes DHS account of Minneapolis shooting

January 25, 2026 (ABC News) – The witness said that agents pushed Pretti to the ground and added that “it didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up.”

“They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him,” the witness said. “They shot him so many times.”

The witness, according to the declaration, recorded a video depicting the events leading up to the agent shooting Pretti and kept recording for several minutes afterwards, according to the declaration.

The declaration was filed Saturday by the ACLU of Minnesota as part of an emergency motion to lift a stay on a federal judge’s order that barred immigration agents from arresting protesters or using nonlethal weapons against them.

Another witness — a 29-year-old pediatrician who said in an affidavit they saw the shooting from their apartment window and went on to perform CPR on Pretti — said Pretti did not brandish a gun or attack agents when federal agents shoved Pretti to the ground.

At a news conference on Sunday, Bovino said that all of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Pretti are still working. He said that for their own safety and because of doxxing, the agents have been moved to other locations, which he did not disclose.