Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICE nurse employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, was fatally shot by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown earlier this year. Seven months after his death, Pretti’s family appeared on “Good Morning America” to demand justice, describing the January encounter as murder. Video footage shows Pretti recording the immigration activity when federal agents pushed a woman into him, triggering a struggle that ended with officers shooting him multiple times. Notably, Pretti was not holding a weapon at the time of the shooting, only his phone, and his licensed firearm had already been removed by an officer before the fatal shots were fired.
The incident occurred amid heightened federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, which also resulted in the death of another American citizen, Renee Good, in a separate shooting roughly two weeks earlier. The Pretti family learned of Alex’s death not from law enforcement but from live television coverage of the shooting. Michael Pretti, Alex’s father, expressed profound shock at the lack of communication from federal authorities: “No one called us.” The family emphasized that their son was attempting to help someone when he was killed, a detail that underscores the circumstances surrounding his death.
The Trump administration’s response to Pretti’s death intensified the family’s pain. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” while President Trump labeled him an “agitator” and “perhaps an insurrectionist.” These characterizations deeply angered the family, with Michael Pretti calling Miller’s remarks “disgusting” and Susan Pretti questioning why they should not receive an apology. The Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation involving the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, though the family’s lawyers told ABC News the current status of the probe remains unclear. The DOJ stated that communications with families do not typically occur during active investigations, a response the Pretti family finds insufficient.
Moving forward, the family’s focus remains on accountability for the two federal agents involved in the shooting. As investigations continue, attention will likely center on whether the Justice Department’s civil rights probe leads to charges or disciplinary action against the officers, and whether political pressure from public outcry accelerates the timeline for conclusions.
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