When Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning, his parents in Colorado found out about his death from an Associated Press reporter.
They watched the video of their son being killed, and when trying to contact Minnesota authorities were told to contact Border Patrol, who were closed, and local hospitals would answer no questions. They contacted the Hennepin County medical examiner for confirmation of the victim’s name and description, which matched their son.
When Alex’s parents saw videos of the Trump administration calling their son a domestic terrorist, they issued a statement.
Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Renee Good, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets.
Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.
He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment. He worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.
Pretti’s ex-wife remained anonymous but said she was not surprised that Alex was protesting ICE. She said he was a Democratic voter and had protested George Floyd’s death in 2020, but had not never known him to be physically confrontational. She said he obtained a concealed carry permit and handgun about three years ago.
Pretti’s neighbors spoke highly of him.
Pretti was an ICU nurse at a VA hospital who worked long hours.
“He’s a wonderful person,” said Sue Gitar, who lived downstairs from Pretti and said he moved into the building about three years ago. “He has a great heart.”
Gitar said he was helpful when there was something suspicious going on in the neighborhood.
He lived alone, divorced three years ago, but often had friends over.
He had a repair on his garage door recently, and told his mother in their last conversation two days ago that the repairman was a Latino, and he had tipped the man an extra $100 because of all of the unrest in Minneapolis.
He loved the outdoors.
He was a competitive biker and lavished care on his new Audi. He took a rifle to a shooting range, and was deeply connected to his dog who died a year ago. His mother said he was deeply concerned about the Trump administration’s direction on the environment.
“He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land,” Susan Pretti said. “He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”