A Dark Day in Minneapolis: Honoring Alex Pretti
This weekend, our community and our country, lost someone truly special. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who dedicated his life to caring for military veterans at the Minneapolis VA, was shot and killed by ICE agents.
Alex was a kindhearted soul. His parents described him as someone who “wanted to make a difference in this world.” As a nurse, he saw people at their most vulnerable and stepped up to help. It was that same instinct to assist others that led to his final moments on Saturday.
The Disconnect Between Narrative and Reality
When we hear about these shootings, the reflexive response from authorities is often a script we’ve heard before: The suspect was violently resisting; the agents acted in self-defense. But we have to look closer.
In this case, there is video. And the video tells a story that common sense reinforces:
• Alex was an ICU nurse with no criminal record.
• He was initially holding a cell phone, not a weapon.
• Though he was legally carrying a registered firearm, the footage appears to show Alex on the ground, surrounded, and disarmed before he was shot.
It is heartbreaking to watch a man who was prone and unthreatening be met with lethal force. When we insert large, armed federal forces into emotionally charged interactions with everyday Americans, these “errors in judgment” aren't just mistakes they feel inevitable.
A Contradiction in Values
There is a profound irony here that we cannot ignore. Many who champion the right to legally carry a firearm are silent when doing exactly that becomes a justification for an immediate death sentence by federal agents.
If you changed just a few facts of the story, Alex might be hailed as a hero by the very people now seeking to justify his death. We have to ask ourselves: What is the point of our rights if they can be stripped away in an instant on our own streets?
A Call for Accountability
The presence of federal officers in our cities is creating a landscape of fear rather than safety.
We need more than just “thoughts and prayers” for Alex’s family; we need a change of course:
Immediate Investigation: We need a transparent, independent investigation to determine responsibility for this killing.
Removal of ICE from Minneapolis: Federal officers should not be patrolling our streets and shooting American citizens.
Remembering Alex
It is easy for the media or the government to turn a person into a statistic or a “suspect.” But Alex Pretti is a hard man to demonize. He was a son, a friend, and a healer.
My heart breaks for his family and for the veterans who lost their nurse. We cannot let his death be in vain. We have to demand better. We have to demand a country where a man like Alex can try to help his neighbor without losing his life.
Rest in peace, Alex.