Federal Agents Shot an ICU Nurse Dead in Minneapolis. He Was Filming Them.
On January 24, 2026, Alex Jeffrey Pretti — a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital — was shot and killed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents near 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue in the Whittier neighborhood.
Pretti was not an undocumented immigrant. He was not a suspect. He was an American citizen with no criminal record, a valid nursing license, and a Minnesota state permit to carry a firearm. He was filming federal agents on his phone and directing traffic during an immigration enforcement operation.
What the Witnesses Saw
Bystander videos show Pretti standing between an agent and a woman the agent had pushed to the ground. He put his arm around the woman. He was then pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by several agents — approximately six officers were surrounding him when he was shot.
Federal officials said Pretti was armed and that officers fired "defensively" after he approached them. Bystander footage does not appear to show Pretti holding a weapon. Two federal agents fired their weapons, according to a subsequent government report to Congress.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara confirmed Pretti had a legal carry permit and zero criminal history.
Context: Not an Isolated Incident
Pretti's killing came two weeks after federal agents shot and killed Renée Good during a separate immigration operation in Minneapolis. These were not the only deaths — Al Jazeera documented multiple ICE-related deaths in January 2026 alone.
The incidents triggered massive protests. NBC News reported that Trump considered invoking the Insurrection Act. Border czar Tom Homan eventually withdrew 700 agents from Minnesota, claiming "significant progress."
The Question Nobody Wants to Answer
Alex Pretti spent his career keeping people alive in an intensive care unit. He had every legal right to be where he was, carrying what he carried. Six federal agents surrounded him, pepper-sprayed him, pinned him down, and shot him dead.
An ICU nurse who saves lives for a living, killed by agents of his own government in his own city. That is the state of immigration enforcement in America in 2026.