Alex Pretti's parents say federal government is shielding agents
involved in his killing
[October 28, 2026]
By MICHAEL BIESECKER and MARK VANCLEAVE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The parents of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti said
Tuesday the federal government is shielding the immigration enforcement
officers involved in their son's killing, and no one from the government
has reached out with any substantive information for nine months.
Michael and Susan Pretti called for the Department of Justice to hold
accountable those who shot their 37-year-old son during President Donald
Trump's ramp up in deportations targeting Minnesota. Federal prosecutors
disclosed in recent court filings they had stopped sharing evidence with
Minnesota authorities who are investigating the January killings of
Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers.
“The federal government went on TV and lied about Alex,” said Susan
Pretti, his mother. “They tried to slander his memory to cover up their
crime. Not only was it wrong, it was shameful."
Within moments of his Jan. 24 death, Trump administration officials
sought to portray Pretti, a U.S. citizen and nurse at a veterans
hospital, as an armed disruptor intent on doing harm to federal agents
when he brought his own gun to a Minneapolis street where officers
clashed with protesters. Kristi Noem, the then-Homeland Security
secretary, painted the Veterans Administration hospital nurse as a
domestic terrorist who violently resisted federal agents. Court records
show he had no criminal record.
Video shot by bystanders that day showed Pretti only had a mobile phone
in his hand. No footage has since emerged showing him brandishing a
weapon or attacking federal agents in the moments before he was killed.
The Prettis spoke Tuesday at a news conference organized by an attorney
representing the family, calling their treatment by the Trump
administration “cruelty.” They said they decided to speak out after
being “stonewalled” by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and the top
federal prosecutor in Minnesota, U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen.
“At every turn, they have ignored us, misled us, and shielded Alex’s
killers,” said Michael Pretti, his father. “We are a family who love
this country. We trust in the institutions of this country. We believe
in the rule of law – and that people should be held accountable through
that law.”
After months of reaching out to Rosen's office, the federal prosecutor
agreed to meet with them in July. But the family and their attorney,
Steve Schleicher, said that meeting raised more questions than answers,
with Rosen refusing to provide even basic information about the status
of the federal investigation into Pretti's death.
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Michael Pretti and Susan Pretti, parents of Alex Pretti, who was
killed by federal immigration agents in January, listen during a
news conference, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP
Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
A spokesman for Rosen's office had no comment when reached by The
Associated Press on Tuesday. The Department of Justice did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on the Pretti family's
remarks.
Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration in March for
access to materials they said they needed to independently
investigate the shootings of Pretti and Good. The Trump
administration has suggested that state prosecutors don’t have
jurisdiction to investigate federal officers, while Minnesota
officials have said they don’t trust the federal government to
investigate itself.
The state is still seeking the cellphones of the officers involved
in both shootings and recordings of key interviews.
Pretti's parents recounted how they first learned of his death when
they were called by a reporter for The Associated Press.
“We learned about his death from the media as we saw him being shot
repeatedly in the back after helping a woman from his community, a
fellow Minnesotan, who had been shoved to the ground viciously,”
Michael Pretti said. “No one from the federal government called us
on that horrible day, but they did go on TV to tell lies about Alex.
No one from the federal government has called us since.”
He said the videos of his son's killing haunt his family every day.
“I think it haunts many Americans to see a U.S. citizen who was
peaceful and in his community shot multiple times on the back, in
the back, while on the ground,” the father said, calling his family
heartbroken.
“We wish we didn’t have to be here,” he said. “We wish Alex was
alive. We wish we were simply in Minneapolis to visit with Alex. For
he and I to chat about cars, hiking, biking or anything that came to
our mind. This administration has taken that away from us forever.”
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Biesecker reported from Pittsburgh.
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