​Alex Pretti killing sparks protests in Minnesota and North Dakota

By Bryce Vincent Haugen

Additional reporting by Alicia Underlee Nelson

For the second time this month, federal immigration agents shot an American citizen dead in the streets of south Minneapolis. And for the second time, the official narrative does not correspond to the video evidence. Elected officials across Minnesota and North Dakota refuted the account provided by the federal government. Protestors took to the streets in Minnesota and North Dakota in the hours following the shooting.

Alex Pretti was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents after a short scuffle just after 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24 on the 2600 block of Nicollet Avenue South in Minneapolis. Bystander video shows the avid outdoorsman — an ICU nurse in the Minneapolis VA healthcare system with no criminal record — stepping in to protect a person being thrown to the ground. Pretti himself was then thrown down by federal agents, physically restrained by at least six Border Patrol officers and shot several times while incapacitated. 

At a press conference later that morning, Greg Bovino, Border Patrol commander-at-large, tried to paint Pretti as a danger to law enforcement, saying that Pretti approached them with a 9mm pistol and needed to be neutralized before he could “massacre law enforcement.” Pretti was a U.S. citizen and a resident of Minneapolis. He was also a legal gun owner with a permit to carry a weapon in Minnesota.

“We respect the second amendment right,” Bovino said. “But those rights don’t count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct and impede law enforcement.”

Bystander video contradicts Bovino’s account of the incident. Video evidence shot from several different angles shows that the only thing Pretti was brandishing in the moments before his death was a cell phone. Agents appear to disarm Pretti before shooting him.

Kristi Noem, United States secretary of homeland security and Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff doubled down on that narrative. President Trump also affirmed Bovino’s account on Facebook and Truth Social messages.

Protests erupt immediately

Many people who viewed the videos disagreed with the federal narrative. Protests, rallies, and vigils popped up throughout Minnesota and across the country this weekend, many just hours after the shooting occurred.

One community activist joined a few dozen others at the intersection of 45th Street and 13th Avenue South in Fargo on the afternoon of Jan. 24. He asked to remain anonymous for fear of getting into trouble with his employer, but said he felt the need to gather, despite a wind chill of -19 degrees.

“It seems so blatantly obvious that they are lying," said the protestor, who held a sign that said “ICE Out” on one side and “End the Murder” on the other. “This guy was beaten, disarmed, pistol whipped. He only had his phone in hand; he wasn’t a threat. I think that’s excessive in itself. Then to shoot him — not only once or twice, but so many times, even though he’s no longer a threat…It’s sickening. I had to get out there. I don’t care how cold it was. I’m done with this.”

In Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, roughly 65 people braved sub-zero temperatures for their weekly protest at Veterans Memorial Parkway. Organizers said the Jan. 24 event had a feeling of increased urgency, since it occurred just hours after Pretti was killed. That’s according to a Facebook message from DL Indivisible chapter chair Kathy Coyle, who shared photos of the protest, which included signs that said “Love thy neighbor, not kill them,” “Violence hurts us all” and “Hate never made America great.”

On Saturday night, Minneapolis-based Unidos MN and Monarca Rapid Response Line encouraged people to hold vigils in their neighborhoods throughout the state in honor of Pretti. The groups are also calling for the end of Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities.

Operation Metro Surge is the largest Trump administration immigration enforcement effort to date, but it's occurring in a metro area with far fewer undocumented immigrants than many other locations in this country. The roughly 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents present in the region vastly outnumber the combined Minneapolis and St. Paul police forces.

A few hardy folks met up at Broadway Square in Fargo on the evening of Jan. 24. They held candles and signs calling for a halt to immigration enforcement activity.

“What happened today is wrong no matter how you look at it,” said one protester named Dean. “It’s wrong. They killed that guy. He was armed but did not have his gun out.”

One woman felt compelled to protest in support of immigrant family members who have legal status in this country, but are alarmed by recent immigration enforcement actions in the region and fear for their safety. The group agreed visibility is important.

“People need to see that people are not afraid of Trump,” Dean added.

Jonah, a Twin Cities transplant who now lives in Fargo, was also present at Broadway Square. He said he’s tired of the violence and called for unity.

“It could be us tomorrow,” Jonah said. “And even if they don’t come here, that’s still our community. We’re supposed to stand together as a unified nation. Where’s that unity? This is objectively wrong.”

The killing hit close to home for another protestor, a former Minneapolis resident named Joe. He brought up the killing’s emotional impact on community members.

“It doesn’t directly impact me as much, but it still impacts the communities where I come from and I see the stress it has on my social network from Minneapolis,” he said. “It’s so exhausting. And it’s heartbreaking. What happened today was an absolute tragedy – executed on the ground like that is just insane. This is the United States. We’re supposed to be free. We have our rights and we see them trampled every day.”

Minneapolis residents are speaking out about the impact the shooting has had on them as well. Felicia Morin, who lives in the Whittier neighborhood where the shooting took place, told High Plains Reader that she woke up to her dog barking excessively on the morning of Jan. 24. When she went outside, she saw a huge immigration enforcement presence in her neighborhood.

“As an indigenous woman, I feel it’s my responsibility to protect my community,” Morin said. “It is in my blood to stand up for my rights and provide safety to people who are afraid. I am tired of hearing about my neighbors being murdered by ICE. Nobody is coming to save us. We all need to stand up because we outnumber them. They should be scared of us.”

Throughout the day and into the night, people gathered in Minneapolis and beyond. Reports indicate that protestors largely remained peaceful, although the National Guard was mobilized to provide support to local law enforcement at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building near the airport.

‘Kind-hearted soul’

Pretti’s parents, Michael and Susan Pretti released a statement on Saturday night. They said that their son, a Wisconsin native, was “a kind-hearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.”

“We are heartbroken, but also very angry,” their statement continued. “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. [...] Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”

Local, state officials react

Minnesota politicians also reacted in the hours after Pretti's killing. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul) was apoplectic about Saturday’s shooting in remarks issued the same day.

“ICE is a brutal invading force that acts without accountability or the most basic respect for human dignity or life,” Murphy said in a statement. “Yesterday (Jan. 23), hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans peacefully called for ICE to leave Minnesota. Today, another of us was killed in broad daylight. ICE needs to get the fuck out of our state before they do this again and these agents of violence need to be brought to justice.”

House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) expressed her condolences in a statement. She also took issue with how other political leaders are handling residents’ frustration.

“Unfortunately, there are too many political leaders urging direct confrontation including the attempted disruption of law enforcement operations,” Demuth said. “We can have protests. We can have lawful monitoring of ongoing law enforcement operations. But it’s going to take leadership at all levels of government to turn down the temperature.”

Saturday’s shooting marked the third time in as many weeks that federal immigration agents have shot Minneapolis residents. On Jan. 7, Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old award-winning poet and mother of three, was gunned down after attempting to drive away from ICE agents. And on Jan. 15, a Venezuelan man allegedly in the country without documentation was shot in the leg by a federal agent who claimed self defense.

At press conferences on Saturday and Sunday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey encouraged unity and standing up for the city, while rejecting the administration’s narrative of the latest shooting. He also renewed his calls for federal immigration agents to get out of his city.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the videos speak for themselves. He called for calm, noting local law enforcement will coordinate with state public safety officials to investigate.

At a separate press conference a few hours after the shooting on Jan. 24, Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson expressed his condolences. He added that his agency was committed to seeking answers and he affirmed the public’s right to peacefully protest.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz addressed the media at the same conference. He called the shooting “sickening and horrific,” adding that the state must lead the investigation. Walz called Operation Metro Surge a “campaign of organized brutality” and urged President Trump to halt the campaign and pull immigration officers out of the Twin Cities metro area. Walz, a Democrat, also warned of electoral consequences.

“There’s a whole lot of Republicans who — for whatever reason — cannot find their spine,” he said. “But they might find the ability to know they won’t win another election as long as they live unless they stand up for what’s right [...]and the rule of law [...] and human decency.”

Walz spoke even more forcefully at another press conference on Jan. 25. He addressed both Minnesotans and people across the country.

“This is an inflection point, America,” Walz said. “What side do you want to be on? The side of an all-powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the street, or the side of a nurse for a VA hospital who died bearing witness to such a government? Or the side of a mother whose last words were ‘I’m not mad at you.’”

Walz said that Minnesotans believe in law and order. But he demands action from President Trump.

“We believe in peace,” Walz said. “And we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person.”

Reach our reporters at brycevincenthaugen@gmail.com and alicia@hpr1.com.