Alex Pretti’s Friends and Family Denounce ‘Sickening Lies’ About His Life

People who knew a man fatally shot by federal agents pushed back against what they called a smear campaign by federal officials. “He was a good man,” his family said.

Minneapolis Nurses Mourn One of Their Own, Alex Pretti

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Nurses in Minneapolis joined a vigil on Sunday to mourn one of their own, Alex Pretti. A 2024 video shows him honoring a patient of his and saying, “freedom is not free. We have to work at it.”CreditCredit…Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

He was a calm presence amid hospital chaos. A mentor who taught kindness and patience to younger friends and colleagues. A singer with a knack for dancing. A bicyclist who treasured the beauty of Minnesota.

This weekend, the family, co-workers and friends of Alex Pretti, who was killed by immigration agents in a confrontation after he was apparently filming them, remembered his life, even as the circumstances of his death were debated on the national stage.

They shared photos of the Alex they knew: a smiling, bearded Mr. Pretti in the powder-blue scrubs he wore at his job as an intensive-care nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital, an outdoors lover posing with his mountain bike on a wooded trail and a student wearing a green cap and gown as he sang a solo at his high school graduation in Green Bay, Wis.