The Execution of Alex Pretti

ICE is committing extra-judicial killings with the Trump regime's support

The seconds before Alex Pretti, an American citizen, was murdered. (Video screenshot)

Alex Pretti was a nurse in an intensive care unit and dedicated to treating veterans. “Alex was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest soul you ever met,” said Aasma Shaukat, the physician who hired him about a decade ago at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System. He “had a high sense of duty” and “was excited about his future and his work.”

Alex Pretti, 37 years old with his whole life ahead of him, was murdered yesterday by ICE agents in Minneapolis. We should also call what happened to Pretti an execution because, as we learned in the hours that followed, the monstrous Trump regime essentially sanctioned this killing in the rush to exonerate the perpetrators and blame the victim. This should be all the evidence that lawmakers in a position to deny ICE funding need—indeed to abolish this death squad that commits extra-judicial killings in broad daylight with our tax dollars.

I suspect you’ve seen by now the horrifying, heartbreaking videos from multiple angles—images that we can see with our own eyes, images that we cannot unsee. These sickening seconds show an ICE goon shoving a woman protestor to the ground and the caring Pretti (who was standing nearby holding up his cell phone with his right hand) moves forward to assist and protect her. This agent begins pepper spraying him and wrestles him to the ground. Pretti is then surrounded by a half dozen other agents. In the following seconds, one agent takes a gun from under Pretti’s belt and—only after that—another agent takes his own gun out of its holster and begins shooting him again and again at point-blank range.

We can hear 10 shots fired. This all happened in front of a donut shop.

Kristi Noem, the sociopathic boss of Homeland Security, was quick to call what happened “domestic terrorism.” She was referring to the actions of Pretti, not members of her death squad. She lied with this account: “An individual approached US border patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, the officers attempted to disarm this individual but the armed suspect reacted violently.” Noem’s violent Border Patrol commander, Greg Bovino, announced at a news conference that “this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called Homeland Security’s account “nonsense” and “lies.” He said, “They’re telling you not to trust your eyes and ears.” The sadistic Trump, meanwhile, called the agents involved in the execution “patriots” and posted that Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are “inciting insurrection.” It’s obvious that he’s hungry to invoke the Insurrection Act and worse: The more the violence expands, the better for his plan to silence dissent, sow more division and take control.

Imagine the horror for Alex Pretti’s family and friends. His parents felt compelled to release a public statement. They said, “We are heartbroken but also very angry.” They called their son “a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends” and “wanted to make a difference in this world.” But, amid the worst tragedy for a parent, they also felt the necessity to reject the regime’s false narrative. It is clear that they were obliged to watch the images of their son’s murder:

The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. 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.

It should be noted that Pretti was a legal gun owner with a valid permit and no criminal record. Minnesota gun laws permit the open carrying of a handgun. But this regime, which proudly touts its devotion to the 2nd Amendment, only thinks the people it supports should be allowed to possess weapons. When a protestor like Pretti happened to be carrying a concealed firearm, it provides this fascist regime a pretext to justify their execution.

Remarkably, even the NRA and other gun groups were quick to respond. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus put out this statement: “Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms—including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their first amendment rights” to peaceably assemble. But don’t expect this criticism to stop these unleashed goons from continuing their deadly march.

The ripple effects are terrible. One woman, who happened to be passing by and recorded video, gave written testimony of what she saw and gave the Minnesota authorities her video. She is not named, but describes herself as “a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting.” We can see her in another video wearing a pink coat.

She notes that Noem’s account is wrong, that Pretti “did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.” Then she says this:

I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they're not telling the truth about what happened.

One last note, which underscores that this regime’s goals for its ICE operations extend far beyond the stated deportation of the “worst of the worst” immigrants. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Walz yesterday after the murder. It reads like extortion. “You and your office must restore the rule of law, support ICE officers, and bring an end to the chaos in Minnesota,” she writes, as if the 3,000 federal agents sent there are not responsible for manufacturing the conflict.

One of her demands is particularly stunning because it reveals Trump’s effort to manipulate the results of coming elections. Bondi demands access to Minnesota’s voter rolls, even though a state is not obliged to hand over to the federal government. “Allow the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to access voter rolls to confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law as authorized by the Civil Rights Act of 1960,” the letter states.

I’d like to say that the murder of Alex Pettri will be the last killing before Congress rises up to end this deadly chapter by a lawless police state. But once again, it will take the courage of millions and millions of everyday Americans to protest, to record the abuses, to speak out against the methodical sociopathy of the Trump regime and its ICE operatives. ICE must be abolished if we are to have any chance of avoiding a continuing escalation of terror in America by a hostile government that refuses to protect its citizens.

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