Alex Pretti Should Be Alive: Newtown Action Alliance Condemns Another ICE Killing in Minneapolis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2026
Alex Pretti Should Be Alive: Newtown Action Alliance Condemns Another ICE Killing in Minneapolis
Newtown, CT — On Saturday, January 24th, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, and Minnesota pistol-permit holder with no criminal record.
This is the third shooting involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in recent weeks, coming after the January 7 killing of Renée Nicole Good, which the Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled a homicide, and a separate federal shooting in which another man was wounded on January 14th.
Available reporting shows that nationwide, federal immigration officers have been involved in at least 19 incidents in which they fired their weapons at civilians during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations, resulting in at least five deaths and numerous injuries.
Publicly circulating videos from the scene show Alex Pretti filming and moving among federal agents during a chaotic confrontation in Minneapolis, and at one point attempting to assist others nearby before he was pushed, pepper-sprayed, and ultimately shot. Some footage appears to show an agent taking a handgun from Pretti’s waistband and tossing it aside before shots were fired, a detail that directly contradicts the federal account that he posed an immediate armed threat. The Trump Administration has released an official narrative labeling Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” echoing the characterization used after the killing of Renée Good earlier this month. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and city officials have criticized the federal response and called for state leadership in the investigation.
Statement from Po Murray, Chairwoman, Newtown Action Alliance:
“We are heartbroken for Alex Pretti’s family and the Minneapolis community. Alex Pretti should be alive today — and so should Renée Good. These killings are not accidents or isolated tragedies. They are the direct and predictable result of Donald Trump’s decision to dismantle Biden’s gun-safety protections, militarize immigration enforcement, and unleash federal agents recruited with wartime messaging into our neighborhoods. Under Trump, Department of Homeland Security’'s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have fired their weapons in at least 19 incidents since his reelection — killing at least five people. This is not public safety. This is federally-sanctioned gun violence and it must stop.
Newtown Action Alliance calls on the Trump Administration and Congress to:
Ensure a truly independent investigation with full public transparency and accountability;
Defund this version of ICE to end unjustifiable killings and militarized incursions by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and militarized recruitment strategies, including recruitment at gun shows and messaging that glorifies force;
Restore and expand funding for community violence intervention and prevention programs proven to reduce shootings;
Recommit to public safety standards that prioritize de-escalation, proportional use of force, and the sanctity of human life; and
Pass strong gun control laws that prevent unnecessary shootings by civilians and by government agents.
Every day this militarized strategy continues, more families are endangered by their own government. The Trump administration should not be allowed to weaponize federal power and fear as tools of authoritarian control while Americans are being shot and killed.”
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Newtown Action Alliance (www.newtownactionalliance.org) is a Newtown-based, national grassroots organization formed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Our mission is to achieve the steady and continuous reduction of gun violence through legislative and cultural changes.