Pretti family: DOJ refusing to turn over evidence

The parents of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis nurse who was shot and killed by federal immigration agents earlier this year, accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of protecting those responsible for his death and refusing to provide answers about the ongoing investigation.

“At every turn, they have ignored us, misled us and shielded Alex’s killers,” Alex Pretti’s father, Michael Pretti, said during a news conference in Minneapolis alongside his wife, Susan. “This is not normal. It is not justice.”

Michael and Susan Pretti spoke alongside a photograph of their slain son in their first public news conference since his killing in January. The pair said they have received no communication from federal officials in the nine months since his death, despite repeatedly seeking information about the investigation.

“Share the evidence now so prosecutors can follow the facts and hold these men accountable,” Michael Pretti said. “Do your job and stop shielding Alex’s killers.”

Their attorney, Steven Schleicher, said the DOJ’s refusal to provide updates violates the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act. In July, he sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding answers about the investigation and the identities of the agents involved, but the family says it has received no response.

The family has also criticized the Department of Homeland Security for failing to retract its initial characterization of Alex Pretti as a threat to law enforcement. Shortly after the shooting, the agency claimed he had intended to “do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement” — an account contradicted by video footage of the encounter.

“We learned about his death from the media as we saw him being shot repeatedly in the back after helping a woman from his community, a fellow Minnesotan, who had been shoved to the ground viciously,” said Michael Pretti. “No one from the federal government called us on that horrible day, but they did go on TV to tell lies about Alex. No one from the federal government has called us since.”

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was killed Jan. 24 while filming immigration agents during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. His death came less than three weeks after another Minneapolis resident, Renee Good, was fatally shot by a federal immigration officer, fueling protests and calls for investigations into the administration’s enforcement operations.