US President Donald Trump said Alex Pretti was “crazy, out of control”, referring to viral videos of an ICU nurse’s unruly confrontation with federal immigration agents during a protest in Minneapolis, days before he was shot dead.
Trump also praised the ICE agent for being “calm and cool” throughout the encounter.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said: “The stock of the agitator and possibly rioter, Alex Pretti, has dropped due to the just released video of him yelling and spitting in the face of a very calm and controlled ICE officer and then madly kicking a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke into pieces.
“It was quite a display of abuse and anger for all to see, crazy and out of control. An ICE officer was calm and cool, not easy to be under those circumstances!” he added. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”
After endearing himself to Pretti, Donald Trump called on key state governors and “every Democratic governor and mayor in the United States of America to formally work with the Trump administration” to enforce the nation’s laws.
What did the viral video show?
Alex Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, could be seen yelling profanities at the federal officers, wrestling with them and kicking out the tail light of their vehicle. He was then forcibly taken to the ground by an ICE agent.
He was also seen yelling at federal vehicles and at one point also appeared to spit and yell “garbage” toward the driver’s side of the car with red and blue lights flashing.
As the vehicle slowly pulls away, Pretti kicks the tail light and then delivers a second kick that breaks the red plastic and leaves the tail light hanging.
How was Alex Pretti killed?
Alex Pretti was shot and killed last weekend on the sidewalk next to the street where he was filming immigration officials. In a video taken by bystanders, one officer shoved him and took him to the ground as half a dozen officers tried to subdue him.
One notices Pretti’s gun, which he was allowed to carry, and yells, “He’s got a gun.” The two officers then open fire and Pretti is killed.
Trump administration officials quickly responded, saying Pretti approached the officers with a gun and assaulted them. However, according to the AP report, the altercation and shooting captured on multiple videos showed that Pretti never brandished a weapon or attacked any officers. He was holding the phone when he was shot in the back on the ground.
