Federal Agents Kill ICU Nurse Alex Pretti During Minneapolis Immigration Protest

What Happened

On January 24, 2026, federal agents killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, during protests in Minneapolis that had erupted following the January 7 killing of Renee Nicole Macklin Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

The Shooting

Pretti was shot by two U.S. Border Patrol (Customs and Border Protection) agents. According to bystander video verified and reviewed by Reuters, the BBC, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, he was filming agents with his phone and, at one point, stood between an agent and a woman the agent had pushed to the ground. He was pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground. An agent removed a handgun from Pretti's holster (he was licensed to carry it) and moved away roughly one second before another agent fired; AP reported a voice saying "gun, gun" just before the first shot. The two agents appear to have fired at least ten shots within five seconds, continuing after Pretti lay motionless. Reuters, the BBC, The New York Times, CNN and The Guardian concluded from video that he was holding a phone, not a gun, before he was tackled.

DHS said Pretti "approached" Border Patrol officers with a handgun and that an agent fired "defensive shots" after trying to disarm him. That account is contradicted by the video and by two witnesses' sworn testimony that he never drew a gun. Federal authorities denied state investigators access to the scene. On February 2, 2026, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner classified the death as a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds.

Pretti became the second U.S. citizen killed by federal agents during the Minneapolis immigration enforcement operation — a massive deployment that DHS described as its largest immigration enforcement operation ever, sending 2,000 agents to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area.

The Pattern

The two killings within 17 days of each other established a pattern of lethal force against U.S. citizens during immigration enforcement operations:

1. January 7: ICE agent Jonathan Ross shoots and kills Renee Good, a mother of three, during an immigration raid. Video evidence contradicted the government's narrative that Good posed a lethal threat.
2. January 24: Federal agents kill Alex Pretti during ongoing protests against the first killing.

DHS Response

Rather than acknowledging the gravity of two civilian deaths, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem doubled down:

• She labeled the actions of protesters "an act of domestic terrorism"
• She stood by the characterization of the U.S. citizens killed as terrorists
• She vowed to send "hundreds more" federal agents to Minneapolis
• She defended the agents involved in both killings

Political Consequences

The killings and Noem's handling of them had significant political consequences:

• New York Governor Kathy Hochul publicly called for Noem's resignation
• Common Cause launched a national campaign to remove Noem from office
• Bipartisan criticism mounted over the use of lethal force against American citizens
• In early March 2026, Trump fired Noem as DHS Secretary, replacing her with Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin

Legal Analysis

The use of lethal force against civilians engaged in protest activities raises serious questions under both domestic and international law. The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials limit the intentional lethal use of firearms to situations where it is "strictly unavoidable in order to protect life."

The fact that two U.S. citizens were killed within a single enforcement operation — one during a raid and one during protests — suggests a systemic failure in use-of-force protocols rather than isolated incidents.

Why This Matters

The Minneapolis killings represent a critical escalation: the use of lethal force by federal immigration agents against U.S. citizens on American soil. Combined with DHS leadership characterizing the victims as "terrorists," this pattern raised alarm about the militarization of immigration enforcement and the erosion of use-of-force constraints.

Update: Human Rights Watch Concludes Killing Was Unlawful (June 2026)

On June 18, 2026, Human Rights Watch published "A Manufactured Crisis: Minnesota Communities Terrorized by the Federal Government," a 180-page report based on 136 interviews with residents, witnesses, and officials. The report formally concludes that federal agents involved in Operation Metro Surge "unlawfully killed two people" — a finding that encompasses the killing of Alex Pretti documented in this entry — in addition to unlawfully arresting and detaining hundreds of people and engaging in racial profiling throughout the operation. A survey conducted by researchers at UC San Diego, cited in the report, found that people of color were approximately 40% more likely than white residents to report encounters with federal agents during the surge.

The HRW report is an independent, third-party assessment that supports the unlawful-killing characterization documented above, though it is not a judicial finding, going beyond the initial reporting on Pretti's death during the protests. Combined with the report's broader findings on mass unlawful detention and racial profiling, it situates Pretti's killing within a documented pattern of rights violations carried out under Operation Metro Surge rather than as an isolated incident.

Update: Evidence Handed Over, No Charges Yet (July–September 2026)

On July 13, 2026, federal authorities gave Minnesota investigators previously withheld evidence from Pretti's killing, including statements and body-camera video, as part of a handover that also covered the Good and Sosa-Celis shootings (PBS NewsHour, MPR News). Pretti family attorney Steve Schleicher said U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen "refused to confirm any cooperation agreement." PBS NewsHour reported that federal officials have suggested state prosecutors lack jurisdiction over federal officers, and that at least nine people had died since the enforcement campaign began.

As of September 19, 2026, no one had been charged in Pretti's death. County Attorney Mary Moriarty is not seeking reelection, and The Intercept reports that the charging decision will likely fall to her successor.