Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was shot and killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, the AP reported.
The incident drew hundreds of protesters to the frigid streets and heightened tensions in a city already rocked by another fatal shooting weeks ago.
Pretti protested US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.
After the shooting, an angry mob gathered and protesters clashed with federal immigration officials, who wielded batons and deployed flashbangs.
Who Was Alex Jeffery Pretti?
Pretti was a US citizen, born in Illinois, the Associated Press reported. Like Good, court records showed he had no criminal record, and his family said he never had any interactions with law enforcement other than a handful of traffic tickets.
Family members said the man killed Saturday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply for people upset by President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration in his city, according to the Associated Press.
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed adventuring with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog, who also recently passed away.
He worked for the US Department of Veterans Affairs and participated in protests following the January 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“He cared deeply about people and was very upset about what happened in Minneapolis and across the United States with ICE because millions of other people are upset,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father.
“He thought it was horrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people on the street. He cared about those people and he knew it was wrong, so he participated in the protests.”
What led to the shooting?
Information about what led to the shooting was limited, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation and firing “defensive shots” after a man with a gun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him.
O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.” However, in bystander videos of the shooting that surfaced soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand, but none show him with a visible weapon.
The officer who shot the man is an eight-year veteran of the Border Patrol, federal officials said.
