In a statement, the parents of the man slain in Minneapolis said that their son “wanted to make a difference.”

 

A photo of Alex Pretti is tucked among pine needles and sticks and flowers.
A memorial at the site where Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a nurse and Minneapolis resident, was killed by federal agents.Credit…Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

Talya Minsberg

By Talya Minsberg

The family of a man killed by federal agents in Minnesota on Saturday said they were heartbroken, but also “very angry.”

The man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was shot several times during a confrontation with immigration officers on a Minneapolis street near his home.

Mr. Pretti’s parents, Susan and Michael Pretti, in a statement reported by CNN and The Associated Press, called their son “a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.”

“Alex wanted to make a difference in this world,” the statement said. “Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact.”

Advertisement

Mr. Pretti’s family joined a chorus of criticism of the federal government over its response to the shooting. Federal officials, including the Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, said Mr. Pretti confronted agents with the intent “to perpetuate violence.” Ms. Noem also accused him of “domestic terrorism.”

Videos show that Mr. Pretti was holding a phone, rather than his gun, and that an agent took the weapon from his body just before he was shot.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the Pretti family statement said. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”