Family of Alex Pretti, ICU Nurse Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis, Gives First TV Interview
Rights & JusticeWell-covered
|
The Facts
- Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs, was shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.
- Pretti's parents, Michael and Susan, and his sister, Micayla, gave their first television interview to ABC's "Good Morning America," broadcast Tuesday.
- The family said they learned Pretti had been shot by watching live news coverage and recognizing his clothing.
- Michael Pretti called Trump "unpresidential" over a Truth Social post describing his son as an "agitator" and "perhaps, insurrectionist."
- The family disputes Trump administration officials' descriptions of Pretti, which have included "assassin" and "domestic terrorist."
- The two agents who shot Pretti have not been publicly identified, and the family says no one has been held accountable.
- Pretti was killed during "Operation Metro Surge," a federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
- Renee Good, another U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis about two weeks before Pretti.
Context
What do accounts say happened at the scene on Jan. 24?
Witnesses said Pretti was recording immigration officers with his cellphone while trying to help up a woman an agent had pushed down, after which officers surrounded him Hill,Bring Me The News,Internewscast Journ…. Eyewitness video reported by outlets shows two agents shot him roughly 10 times after wrestling him to the ground Yahoo,UNILAD. The Department of Homeland Security has said officers fired to protect themselves UNILAD.
Which agency employed the agents who shot Pretti?
Accounts differ. Several outlets identify the shooters as Customs and Border Protection or Border Patrol agents Hill,Daily News,Bring Me The News,World Socialist, while others describe them as ICE officers GEO TV,Common Dreams. The individual agents have not been officially identified Yahoo.
Where does the investigation stand seven months later?
The family says it is still awaiting answers from a federal civil rights investigation and wants the two officers who shot Pretti held accountable Aol,Yahoo. Relatives say the Justice Department has refused to share details of the investigation with them and that no Trump administration official has contacted them about the shooting CNN,Yahoo.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
Left and right largely agree on this one.
- Where Left and Right agree
- An official's label is not a finding of fact: calling Pretti an "assassin" or "insurrectionist" settles nothing while the two agents who shot him remain unidentified.
- Where Left and Right differ in emphasis
- Whether the story is about a government that killed two citizens and owes an answer for who authorized it, or about a process that must finish before blame is assigned.
- Why they won’t converge
- The divide is trust-in-institution crossed with contested evidence: one side reads federal silence as concealment, the other withholds judgment until an official finding, and each can hold its position because the same videos are read as either a disarmed man pinned or a man who was armed and combative.
How left and right read it
When a government kills a citizen, the burden of proof sits with the government — and here it has produced labels instead. Alex Pretti's family is told their son was an "assassin," a "domestic terrorist," perhaps an "insurrectionist," yet the two agents who shot him remain unnamed and no one has answered for it, while video shows him disarmed and pinned before the shots landed. Renee Good was killed by a federal agent in the same city weeks earlier. Who authorized this, and who is required to say so?
“But multiple videos of the incident painted a different story - showing federal agents removing Pretti's holstered pistol and wrestling him to the ground before firing multiple shots into his back.” — The Independent
Enforcement authority holds only when it can be shown lawful. Calling a dead VA ICU nurse an "agitator," "assassin," or "domestic terrorist" settles nothing, because an official's accusation is not a finding of fact — yet the two agents who shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis remain unidentified. Renee Good was killed weeks earlier. Finish the investigation and publish what it establishes, before anyone assigns blame.
The receipts — all 28 sources
Independent coverage (28)
Facts first. Then every angle.
The day’s biggest stories in one short brief — the facts everyone agrees on, then the competing values behind the headlines. Free in your inbox.