Tributes for Alex Jeffrey Pretti, the man killed by U.S. immigration agents in Minneapolis, began almost immediately. Just hours after he was shot by federal officers, hundreds of people gathered at the site where he died to honor his memory.
On Saturday, the 37-year-old was standing in the street recording an incident in which a police officer sprayed pepper spray at a woman.
For that reason alone, one of the officers confronted Pretti and pushed him off the roadway.
Several agents then began beating him and forced him to the ground. Despite being unarmed, one of the immigration agents fired at him at point-blank range. The first shot was followed by several more, as shown in videos recorded by witnesses.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the incident on his social media platform, posting an image of a gun that Pretti was carrying but never drew.
Trump wrote: “What is this all about? Where was the local police? Why weren’t they authorized to protect ICE? Did the mayor and governor tell them to leave? ICE had to protect itself.”
Pretti’s parents responded through CNN, expressing both grief and anger. “We are heartbroken, but we are also furious.
Alex was a kind-hearted person who deeply loved his family and friends, as well as U.S. veterans, whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Hospital,” they said.
They added, “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Sadly, he will not be here to see the impact he made. I do not use the word ‘hero’ lightly. However, his final thought and act were to protect a woman.”
The parents also condemned statements made by the Trump administration, calling them “reprehensible and disgusting.”
“Alex clearly did not have a weapon when he was attacked by Trump’s cowardly, thuggish ICE killers.
He had his phone in his right hand and his left hand raised above his head, trying to protect the woman ICE had just pushed to the ground while spraying her with pepper spray. Please help spread the truth about our son. He was a good man,” they said.
Following the shooting, hundreds of people gathered at the location, leaving flowers and candles in Pretti’s memory. His death marks the second fatal ICE-related shooting in the city this year, following the killing of Renee Nicole Good.
Chants were heard in Spanish, including “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido” and “Immigrants are not criminals,” as demonstrators endured freezing temperatures nearing –20 degrees Celsius in Minnesota.
Residents later erected makeshift barricades at the site where Pretti was killed, declaring the area an ICE-free zone.
Protests also erupted in cities across the United States, including Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, where demonstrators condemned the killing and protested federal immigration operations.
In Washington, D.C., hundreds marched toward the Department of Homeland Security building, chanting “Shame,” according to The Washington Post.
The largest demonstrations took place in New York, with additional large protests in Los Angeles and Chicago, cities that have also been targeted by National Guard deployments under Trump-era immigration policies.
