"He cared about these people" Who was the man shot by ICE in Minneapolis?
On Saturday, another person was shot and killed by US immigration authorities ICE. Who was Alex Pretti?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti of Minneapolis was shot and killed by ICE officers, three weeks after the death of Renée Good.
- He was an intensive care nurse, blameless and was involved in protests against US immigration policy.
- After Pretti's death, the US Department of Homeland Security declared that he was armed.
- It is still unclear whether Pretti really had a weapon with him.
Just three weeks after the death of Renée Good, officials from the US immigration authority ICE have shot another person. The man in question was 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti from Minneapolis.
Pretti worked as an intensive care nurse in a Veterans Administration hospital. According to his relatives, he was also an avid outdoor sportsman.
He was born in the state of Illiois and was a US citizen. He played football and baseball at school, was a boy scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir. After graduating from college in Minnesota, he worked as a research scientist, later returning to school to become a nurse.
Court records show he had no criminal record. Like Renée Good. The 37-year-old lived around two kilometers from the crime scene. Neighbors described him as calm and warm-hearted.
"He cared about these people"
According to his father, Alex Pretti was regularly involved in demonstrations against the US government's immigration policy. "He thought it was terrible - kidnapping children, just taking people off the streets. He cared about these people and knew it was wrong. That's why he participated in protests," Michael Pretti told the AP.
"He cared deeply about other people, and he was very upset about what was happening in Minneapolis and across the United States with ICE - as were millions of other people," the father continued to the news agency.
A former wife also confirmed to AP that Pretti had been active in protests. He was a Democrat and took part in nationwide demonstrations in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd - not far from his home in Minneapolis at the time. However, she has had no contact with him since their separation more than two years ago.
Self-defense or not?
After Pretti's death, the US Department of Homeland Security stated that he was armed and that the shots were fired in self-defense. The family of the deceased stated that Pretti had owned at least one gun and had a permit to carry it in public.
It is not yet clear whether Pretti was actually armed on the day of his death. The footage only shows that he was holding a cell phone.
