Alex Pretti, Man Killed by Federal Agents Whom the White House Labeled a Domestic Terrorist, Was ICU Nurse for Veterans
The 37-year-old man shot and killed by federal border patrol agents on Saturday—whom the Trump administration has since labeled an “assassin” and a “domestic terrorist”—was actually an ICU nurse employed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and a competitive cyclist who loved the outdoors.
Alex Pretti was also a U.S. citizen with no criminal history who started attending protests in Minneapolis after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. He previously worked as a research scientist at the University of Minnesota Medical School before returning to school to become a registered nurse.
“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” Alex’s father, Michael Pretti, told the Associated Press. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”
On Saturday, Pretti was filming a couple of protesters blowing whistles at masked U.S. border patrol agents when an agent shoved one of them. Pretti yells, “Hey, you will not push them into the traffic,” still filming with his phone in his hand. One video then shows the agent shoving the protester again, then shoving Pretti, then shoving a third protester to the ground. Pretti steps back and raises his hand as the agent begins spraying him with pepper spray; he then tries to help the woman who was shoved, but five more agents tackle him to the ground, with one repeatedly striking his head with a metal can.
After analyzing five videos of the incident from different angles, CNN shows how one federal agent appears to grab a gun from Pretti’s waistband before walking away. In another video, obtained by Drop Site News, audio captures someone shouting, “He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun,” followed by another voice saying, “No the fuck I don’t,” immediately before the gunshots.
Footage shows at least two of the agents brandishing their guns before at least 10 gunshots ring out. (The agents involved were members of U.S. Border Patrol, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security alongside ICE.)
DHS and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem have continued to claim that Pretti approached federal agents, yet these multiple videos contradict those claims. CNN reports that when they asked DHS about the agent removing the gun before the shooting began, the department sent their original statement, that “officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the suspect resisted violently.” Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino—who really enjoys leaning into a certain…image—said in a statement that Pretti was “brandishing” a gun and threatening to “massacre” agents.
Minnesota requires a permit to carry a handgun, and a valid permit allows a person to carry either openly or concealed. During a press conference on Saturday, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Pretti was “a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.” Bystander accounts of the incident—in addition to all of the footage—show that Pretti never once touched, let alone brandished, his gun.
The family told the AP that Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he was a former Boy Scout, sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir, and played football, baseball, and ran track in high school. His ex-wife said that he also attended protests in 2020 after George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Pretti’s co-worker at the VA, Dr. Dmitri Drekonja, told ABC News that it was “enraging” to hear officials label him a terrorist. “He was the type of person you enjoyed being around and the notion that this helpful, smiling joking guy was being labeled a terrorist? It’s galling,” he said. The American Nurses Association also released a statement, saying it was “deeply disturbed and saddened” by Pretti’s death and called for a “full, unencumbered investigation.”
On Facebook, a man named Marc Randolph said Pretti was his dad’s ICU nurse at the VA, and delivered his final salute after he passed away in 2024.
“Never wanted to share this video but his speech is very on point,” Randolph captioned the video. “Also my Fathers final words to me was continue to fight the good fight. He would be honored in Alex’ sacrifice, and ashamed of this current administration.”
As of Saturday night, the family told the AP they hadn’t heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.
“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,” Pretti’s family said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”