Alex Pretti’s death has shocked America again, just weeks after another person, Renee Nicole Good, was fatally shot by ICE agents. Top officials, including President Donald Trump, claimed Pretti was at fault. Now, the 37-year-old’s family has spoken out, furious about the “sickening lies” told by government officials.
Alex Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse, was fatally shot on Saturday by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Just as when Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed a few weeks ago, it has caused many furious reactions.
While reports about what happened differ, harrowing footage shows Pretti being taken to the ground by several ICE officers before being shot. Minnesota claims at least ten shots were heard.
The killing of another American citizen and a protester has caused many emotions. Sadly, the Pretti family now feels they have been forced to share a statement not on the murder of their beloved family member, but because of what government officials have said.
President Donald Trump claimed this weekend that his administration is reviewing the Alex Pretti shooting.
What government officials have said about Alex Pretti’s murder
However, he declined to speak on whether the federal officer who shot the 37-year-old acted appropriately. Trump also criticized Alex Pretti for carrying a gun during a protest activity.
“I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it. But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either,” he said per The Guardian.
About three hours after Pretti was killed, White House officials began making statements. Just as when Renee Nicole Good was killed, many of the president’s most trusted men and women took the ICE agent’s side.
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller wrote on X: “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.” The post referred to comments by a Democratic Party account calling for ICE to withdraw from Minneapolis.
Not long after, a reader’s note beneath the statement appeared, which read, “Videos of the encounter shows that the gun was never drawn. The weapon remains in the victim’s holster until one agent removes it. After the victim is disarmed, a second agent shoots him repeatedly.”
Alex Pretti branded “assassin” by White House senior adviser
Some minutes later, Miller, who responded to Democratic senator Chris Murphy’s call to withhold funding for ICE, wrote, “An assassin tried to murder federal agents and this is your response.”
On Saturday afternoon, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference in which she claimed that the shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti was justified.
“Fearing for his life and for the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots,” she said. “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
Noem added that the shooting would be investigated, “just like we do all other officer-involved shootings”.
Meanwhile, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino went even further, saying that the ICE agents, in fact, were the “victims.”
”He brought a semi-automatic weapon to a riot, assaulted federal officers, and at some point, they saw that weapon,” Bovino said. “So, I do believe (Noem) is 100% spot-on in what she said.”
Alex Pretti’s family shares heartbreaking statement
The ICE agent claimed to have acted in self-defense. Reports state that the agents had unarmed Pretti.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the BBC: “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.
“Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.”
However, several videos from the fatal incident show a different side. had enough. In a statement, they dispute the government’s version of what happened to their beloved family member, saying he was not a “gunman.” Moreover, they added they were “heartbroken but also very angry” at what Donald Trump had said.
“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,” the statement read.
“He was a good man”
“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.”
The family concluded, “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
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