Alex Pretti’s family calls for accountability 7 months after fatal CBP shooting

The family of Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse who was fatally shot by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents during a January crackdown on immigration in Minnesota, called for answers from the Trump administration on Tuesday — seven months after his death.

“I was not shocked that he helped somebody. My shock is that he was murdered and no one has given us the complete truth or anyone has been held accountable,” his mother, Susan Pretti, told ABC News ‘ George Stephanopoulos during a “Good Morning America” interview. “And it’s been seven months.”

Witnesses of the shooting said they saw the slain nurse recording immigration officers with his cellphone while trying to help up a woman who one agent had pushed down. Law enforcement officials then surrounded the 37-year-old, with one appearing to wrestle Pretti’s firearm — for which he had a permit — away before two agents fired several shots at him.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide . But, while the two officers were charged for use of force, they have not been charged for the killing.

Susan Pretti, sat alongside her husband Michael Pretti and daughter Micayla Pretti, added that there was “more effort in vilifying him than pursuing justice, investigating this.”

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Alex Pretti of being involved in an “act of domestic terrorism” for endangering the agents’ lives, mimicking her description of Renee Good — a Minneapolis resident killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers earlier the same month.

Other Trump administration officials, including White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, called Alex Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and an “assassin.” President Trump himself wrote on Truth Social that ICU nurse was “perhaps” an “insurrectionist.”

“It’s so un-presidential,” Michael Pretti said. “It’s ridiculous that, you know, the leader of the free world speaks that way about an American citizen.”

His father added that their son cared about his community and was only observing immigration officials’ activity in Minneapolis, not protesting against them.

“We’ve seen what happened,” Michael Pretti noted. “The videos are pretty clear. But we want justice. We want accountability for the people that did this to Alex.”

The family learned about his death while watching news coverage of immigration enforcement in the city, seeing footage of “our son be shot 10 times on TV,” the father said.

“What did he do to deserve to be murdered?” Susan Pretti asked. “To be left cold, on the ground, dead, my child? What did he do?”

She asked why the family “should not get” an apology.

Steve Schleicher, an attorney for the Pretti family, told ABC News that the family deserves to know who shot their son and that that person or persons should be prosecuted.

The Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting shortly after Alex Pretti’s death, pledging to work in tandem with the FBI and a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

Attorney General Todd Blanche, then serving as deputy attorney general, said prior to announcing the probe that Alex Pretti’s actions did not match “the legal definition of domestic terrorism.” After the announcement, Blanche added that he was “not committing to anything with respect to that investigation.”

Last month, Minnesota officials obtained body camera footage and other evidence from the federal government of the shootings of both Alex Pretti and Good. The FBI had previously said it would not share evidence related to Alex Pretti’s death with Minnesota investigators.

“My aim has always been to ensure justice is done, and this evidence-sharing is a positive development in that essential work,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said after obtaining the footage.