In Honor of His Courage: Rest in Peace Alex Pretti, RN
Updated August 29, 2026
In Memory of Alex Pretti: A Nurse Hero
A tribute by Mary C. Vrtis, Ph.D., MSN, RN
There are no questions in regard to how Alex Pretti died. Eyewitness videos recorded by some very brave people were provided to independent news outlets and there are links to those videos below on this page. Alex Pretti was murdered by agents from the United States Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) for attempting to help and to render care to a woman who (from the videos) appears unable to stand up independently after being viciously shoved to the ground.
Nurses are educated to help those who are injured and it is second nature to provide assistance and care if needed. Alex was a dedicated and caring nurse. He immediately rushed to the woman’s aid. Despite the fact that it was a law enforcement agent of the American government that hurt her.
Alex was a nurse hero like all of the nurses who have rendered care while under fire that came before him and for those who will come after him.
I am writing this today to assure that at least in this small way, Alex Pretti’s courage under fire is not forgotten.
Alex, a 37-year-old nurse, was observing the activities of ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was holding his phone out. Videos show a group of masked ICE agents in full combat gear who were harassing people on the street, including Alex and at least two women. Alex himself was shoved several times about two minutes before he was murdered.
At one point, Alex caught a woman who had been shoved by an ICE agent and stumbled backward. Alex helped her to remain standing for a brief period until the woman was brutally shoved again. Alex was also pushed back toward the window of a store. It is very clear that he was not the aggressor as he was holding both arms up and moved several steps backward as an ICE agent aggressively moved toward him. He held a phone in one hand and the other hand was empty.
Then another woman was viscously attacked by an ICE agent, and she was pushed into the camera’s field of view. This woman fell hard onto the concrete curb. The woman was having difficulty getting up and fell back down more than once. Alex tried to help her get up when ICE agents sprayed them in the face with some substance, reported to be a chemical agent.
The videos continued to show where Alex was tackled to the ground by a group of ICE agents. One video shows that the gun that he carried legally and clearly had not touched during the entire time recorded was taken before Alex was on the ground. Analysts who listened to the recordings in retrospect said that up to 10 shots from ICE agent guns were heard while Alex was already restrained and on the ground.
After the ICE agents stood up and walked away, the videos show that Alex Pretti was lying dead on the ground. No effort was made to see if he was alive or dead.
As described by his family in the video below, seven months later, there are still no answers as to who shot and killed Alex Pretti. Many, many, many false narratives have been put forward by ICE, but no one has been held responsible.
Interestingly, on the day after Alex’s family interviewed with George Stephenopolus on ABC, August 25, 2026 (see video below), Greg Bovino, the Border Control ICE Commander-at-Large who led the brutal enforcement in Minneapolis, accused the Trump administration of wanting him dead (see video below). Under his orders the Minneapolis campaign was aggressive and deadly, and Alex Pretti and also Renee Good, another 37 year old innocent American were killed.
I did not know Alex Pretti. What I have learned is that this was not the first time that Alex showed great courage. As an already well-established research scientist, and as the COVID-19 pandemic was raging, Alex decided to do more for others by completing an RN program. As shown, while many nurses were getting sick and others had to leave nursing due to the countless ways the profession was affected, Alex ran right into the fire, see the public information for his Minnesota RN license.
He was licensed to practice on January 19, 2021. The COVID-19 public health emergency was not declared over until May of 2023.
Alex’s obituary and what his family and friends have written about him memorialized on this page show who he was:
Rest in peace, nurse Alex.
Aug 25, 2026 George Stephanopoulos spoke with the family for its first ABC exclusive interview about what happened to their son in Minneapolis.
Greg Bovino was the U.S. Border Contol Commander-at-Large during the brutal ICE enforcement campaigns in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Chicago, when Alex Pretti and Renee Good were killed by masked ICE agents.
Bovina was removed from Minneapolis shortly after the two deaths. The interview was conducted by Tucker Carlson, previously a commentator on FOX News network. The interview speaks for itself.
January 26, 2026. Becker, Amanda. Alex Pretti died as he lived: Taking care of others. The 19th Daily Newsletter.
January 24, 2026, Shay Scanlan (The Minnesota Daily).
Vigil held hours after ICE shooting of Alex Pretti
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/24/alex-pretti-minneapolis-minnesota-shooting
January 25, 2026 Talya Minsberg, Corina Knoll, and Julie Bosman (New York Times). Alex Pretti’s friends and family denounce sickening lies about his life
January 25, 2026 Rich Schapiro (NBC News). One called it murder. Some need more information. How policing experts see the Pretti shooting
January 26, 2026 (Face the Nation, CBS News). Numerous witness videos show altercation, deadly shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis
January 26, 2026 (Emily Van de Reit and the Associate Press, 29 News)
Priest who worked with Alex Pretti – ‘Don’t pay any attention to the vilification from our national leaders
January 26, 2026 (CBS News): Moment-by-moment breakdown of Border Patrol interaction with Alex Pretti
January 26, 2026. Gaby Vinnick, Chris Looft, Josh Margolin, Peter Charalambous, and Camilla Alcini (ABC News). A minute-by-minute timeline of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti involving federal agents
January 28, 2026 (CNN) Woman who took video of Alex Pretti and federal officers: “I watched him die”
January 26, 2026 (Kyle Stokes, Axios).
Minnesota takes rare legal steps to ensure probe of Alex Pretti shooting
January 24, 2026 American Association of Critical Care Nurses
January 24, 2026 Statement from the American Nurses Association regarding the death of registered nurse Alex Pretti
January 2026 National Nurses United
January 26, 2026 Steve Ford (Nursing Times Journal – Nurses in the United Kingdom responded
January 26, 2026
International Council of Nurses (ICN) on the death of American ICU nurse Alex Pretti
ICN President Dr José Luis Cobos Serrano said the loss has resonated deeply across the global nursing community:
“Nurses across the world are mourning the loss of a colleague and are deeply troubled by the circumstances surrounding the death of Alex Pretti. What has been reported so far describes a nurse known as a kind and caring professional, whose actions appeared to reflect the compassion and commitment that define nursing everywhere.
January 20, 2026 (ABC 6 News – KAAL TV): Minnesota physicians on ICE presence in hospitals
Note: this was recorded after a federal ICE offficer shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of on January 7, 2026 and the killing of Alex Pretti by federal officers.
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