Weeks after the killing on Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, which triggered national outrage and demonstrations, 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was also killed during an anti-ICE protest on January 24.
As well as with the agent involved in the shooting of Good, who the officials claimed acted in self-defence, President Donald Trump defended Pretti’s shooter too, describing Pretti’s firearm – allegedly pulled from his waistband – as “a very dangerous and unpredictable gun…a gun that goes off when people don’t know it.”
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Trump said, “I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it.
“But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
A footage of the tragic incident showed the 37-year-old Pretti trying to assist a woman who had been shoved into the snow by an agent, before he was pepper-sprayed, taken to the ground, and shot several times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to reports, Pretti was carrying a firearm legally, though accounts indicate that he was disarmed by agents before being shot.
His father released an emotional statement, firmly rejecting claims that his son had engaged in any violent actions.
“He cared about people deeply,” he said. “He was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset.
The father added: “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street.”
US Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino blamed the victims, saying, “The suspect put himself in that situation. The victims are the Border Patrol agents there.”
He continued: “I believe that the fantastic training of that our law enforcement partners has prevented any specific shootings of law enforcement. So good job for our law enforcement in taking him down before he was able to do that.”
Asked about the footage that shows Pretti being disarmed before he was killed, Bovino told CNN‘s Dana Bash, “Dana, you don’t know that he was unarmed. I don’t know that he was unarmed. That is freeze frame adjudication of a crime scene via a photo. That is why we have investigators, that is why we have investigation that is going to answer these questions.”
He added: “We don’t know that agent was taking his gun away. The facts are going to come to light. That is why we investigate.”
Bash then noted that his remarks appeared to prejudge the incident, to what Bovino replied, “Well, with respect you say that’s why we investigate, but you’re also drawing other conclusions that sort of fly in the face of waiting for an investigation.”
Bovino’s comments sparked a strong backlash on social media, as critics argued he was shielding the agents despite footage from several angles that appears to show Pretti no longer posed a threat when he was shot.
The controversy even prompted a measured response from President Donald Trump, who told the Wall Street Journal, “We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination. I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it. But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
According to The Independent, the public outrage forced officials to remove Bovino from his duties in Minnesota. Trump said he would replace him with his border czar, Tom Homan.
“Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” the president posted on Truth Social.
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