‘Shameful’: Alex Pretti’s parents accuse Trump officials of shielding son’s killers
Susan and Michael Pretti say they have been ‘ignored and misled’ in quest for justice over son’s killing by US agents The parents of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year, accused federal officials of stonewalling them and shielding their son’s killers. During a press conference on Tuesday, Michael and Susan Pretti made their first public remarks…
Key points
- Michael and Susan Pretti accused federal officials of ignoring and misleading them and shielding their son's killers.
- Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse at a veterans hospital, was fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on 24 January.
- The Justice Department said communications with family members typically come at a later stage of a case, not during an investigation.
The parents of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in January, accused federal officials on Tuesday of stonewalling them and shielding their son's killers. Michael and Susan Pretti made their first public remarks since their son's death at a press conference in Minneapolis.
The couple said the federal government has not given them meaningful information about the case and called for the Department of Justice to hold those involved accountable. Pretti, who worked at a veterans hospital, died on 24 January after being fatally shot by federal immigration agents.
Dispute over the shooting
The Trump administration quickly described Pretti as a domestic terrorist who was armed and claimed he had violently resisted agents, defending the officers involved. Video footage contradicted that account, showing Pretti holding a cellphone and not brandishing a weapon or attacking agents before he was shot in the back as he lay in the street.
Pretti had no criminal record and had a license for the handgun he had holstered before agents removed the weapon and opened fire, according to the article.
At every turn, they have ignored us, misled us and shielded Alex's killers.
— Michael Pretti
Meeting with prosecutors
The Prettis said they spoke out after Todd Blanche, the US attorney general, and Dan Rosen, the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, stonewalled them. Rosen agreed to meet the couple only in July after months of requests, they said, but declined to provide basic information about the investigation's status.
The administration has argued that the state lacks jurisdiction to investigate federal officers. Minnesota officials recently said the federal government stopped sharing information with state investigators examining the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good, a 37-year-old fatally shot by an ICE officer during a January protest.
