Alex Pretti’s final words were revealed after the 37-year-old was killed in the second fatal ICE shooting to take place in Minneapolis.
Pretti, who was an ICU nurse at Minneapolis Veterans Affairs, was fatally shot by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Saturday morning (January 24) after an explosive confrontation.
According to his parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, Alex was not only a dedicated healthcare professional and caregiver but also a hero in his final moments.
“I do not throw around the hero term lightly,” their statement read, cited by CBS News.
“However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman.”
Pretti's Final Words
In what are believed to be his final words, now widely circulated in video footage of the incident, Pretti can allegedly be heard telling an ICE agent, “Don’t touch her,” before turning to the woman and asking, “Are you okay?” per Times Now World.
His parents say he stepped in to shield a woman who had been shoved to the ground and pepper-sprayed by agents.
“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,” they said.
Video courtesy of Bring Me The News
Government Says Pretti Was Armed - But Witnesses Say Otherwise
According to the Irish Times, federal officials claimed Pretti had approached ICE agents while carrying a 9mm handgun and refused orders to disarm, prompting one officer to shoot him multiple times.
The Department of Homeland Security said the agent was "fearing" for his life, and released a photo of a gun they say belonged to Pretti, along with two magazines. They also claimed he carried no ID.
But video footage tells a different story, and it’s one that has sparked a national firestorm.
In graphic clips recorded by bystanders, the nurse appears to be tackled to the ground and surrounded by at least five federal agents before being pepper-sprayed and shot at close range.
One of the clips shows an agent picking up a gun from the ground after the shooting, but no footage has surfaced showing Pretti brandishing the weapon.
Two eyewitnesses, whose sworn affidavits were filed as part of an ACLU lawsuit, say they saw no indication that Pretti ever drew a weapon.
One of them, a 29-year-old physician who lives near the scene, said Pretti looked agitated but “did not see him attack the agents or brandish a weapon of any kind.”
Despite this, White House adviser Stephen Miller labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” a claim the family blasted as “reprehensible and disgusting.”
Protests Erupt As Federal Agents Deploy Force
News of Pretti’s death triggered an immediate and fiery response from the community.
Protesters gathered at the scene, some dragging garbage bins to block roads and chanting, “ICE out now.”
Tensions escalated as agents deployed chemical irritants and flash bangs to control the crowd. One agent was caught on video mocking demonstrators, saying, “Boo hoo,” while others shoved people into cars.
Authorities locked down the intersection, with Border Patrol agents brandishing batons as FBI and city investigators moved in.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara stressed that Pretti had only ever had traffic violations and was a lawful gun owner with a valid permit to carry.
“Our demand today is for those federal agencies operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement demands,” O’Hara said.
“We urge everyone to remain peaceful and recognise there is a lot of anger and questions around what has happened.”
Mayor Jacob Frey went further, calling for the removal of federal agents from the city: “How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?”
National Backlash and Calls For Justice
Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama weighed in with a rare joint statement, calling the shooting “a heartbreaking tragedy” and warning that “core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.”
“This has to stop,” they said.
“For weeks now, people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke, and endanger the residents of a major American city."
"These unprecedented tactics, which even the former top lawyer of the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration has characterized as embarrassing, lawless, and cruel, have now resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S citizens,” the Obamas wrote.
“And yet rather than trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they’ve deployed, the President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation - and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence," they added.
Meanwhile, President Trump defended the operation in a fiery Truth Social post, accusing state leaders of “inciting insurrection”.
“Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America," he continued.
“LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB! 12,000 Illegal Alien Criminals, many of them violent, have been arrested and taken out of Minnesota. If they were still there, you would see something far worse than you are witnessing today!” he added.
At the heart of the tragedy is the life of a man remembered by friends and colleagues as deeply kind and committed to his work.
“He wanted to help people,” said Dr. Dimitri Drekonja, chief of infectious diseases at the VA hospital where Pretti worked. “He was a super nice, super helpful guy - looked after his patients. I’m just stunned.”
Pretti’s family has called for full transparency and the release of all body camera footage. “Please get the truth out about our son,” they said. “He was a good man.”
Our thoughts are with Pretti's loved ones.