VA Officials Tried to Block a Memorial Service for Alex Pretti

National leadership at the Department of Veterans Affairs initially blocked a memorial planned for Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.

In an email obtained by The New Republic, officials at the Minneapolis VA claimed that “local leadership was instructed to pause the memorial” for Pretti, initially scheduled for Tuesday at noon.

“So in other words, somebody told our people, ‘Back off,’” said one Minneapolis VA employee, who spoke with TNR under the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

“Our local leadership I think is very good, they’re quite sensitive, I mean they’re really trying to do that. But they’re getting it from above,” the employee said. “I mean, there’s supposed to be a memorial service yesterday, they’re told to postpone it? I mean, come on! That doesn’t seem consistent with how they usually respond.”

“As an institution, we owe it to him,” the employee said. “And I think the formal ritualized events help some people.”

Two employees also told The Washington Post that a memorial for Pretti had been initially blocked, but another service is scheduled for next week.

In response to an inquiry Wednesday about why the first memorial was canceled, Minneapolis VA Medical Center spokesperson Melanie Nelson told TNR that the organization was still working to schedule an event.

“VA employees are welcome to memorialize Alex Pretti in their own way as long as they are respectful and it does not interfere with their work duties,” the statement said.

At the Minneapolis VA, the decision to cancel Pretti’s memorial was another blow in an ongoing struggle with national leadership under the Trump administration. During the Biden administration, “we felt like the national office was there to support us in our mission as opposed to hamper us,” the first employee told TNR.

While VA Secretary Doug Collins has reportedly not issued an agency-wide statement about Pretti’s killing, he did blame Democratic leadership for his death on social media. “Such tragedies are unfortunately happening in Minnesota because of state and local officials’ refusal to cooperate with the federal government to enforce the law and deport dangerous illegal criminals,” Collins said on X Sunday.

“Really, that kind of got to me,” the employee said, referring to Collins’s statement. “And that’s our leader at the highest level.”