The family of Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse who was fatally shot by federal agents in Minnesota, called for accountability and further investigation during a Tuesday interview. Pretti was killed seven months ago during a January immigration enforcement operation conducted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). His family stated that they have not yet received a full explanation or seen anyone held responsible for the death.
According to witness accounts, Pretti was using his cellphone to record immigration officers while attempting to assist a woman who had been pushed to the ground by an agent. Law enforcement officials then surrounded the 37-year-old nurse. One agent reportedly struggled with Pretti over his firearm, which the family noted he was permitted to carry, before two agents fired multiple shots. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner subsequently ruled Pretti's death a homicide.
Following the incident, federal officials provided differing characterizations of Pretti's actions. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the event as an "act of domestic terrorism," while other administration officials labeled Pretti an "assassin." President Trump suggested on social media that Pretti may have been an "insurrectionist." In contrast, Pretti's father stated his son was merely observing the activity in his community and not participating in a protest.
The scale of the federal response includes a civil rights investigation opened by the Department of Justice (DOJ) involving the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. While two officers have been charged for their use of force, they have not been charged with Pretti's killing as of August 2026. The case has also created conflict between federal and state authorities over the handling of evidence. The FBI initially refused to share evidence with Minnesota investigators, though the state's attorney general recently obtained body camera footage and other materials related to the shootings of both Pretti and Good.
The resolution of this case will set a precedent for how the federal government handles oversight of its agents during large-scale domestic enforcement operations. A person living in a district seeing similar immigration crackdowns would notice the legal distinction between being labeled a "domestic terrorist" versus a bystander, a designation that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche noted was not met in this case. What happens next depends on the ongoing DOJ civil rights probe and potential state-level prosecutions following the acquisition of new evidence by the Minnesota Attorney General. No specific trial dates or deadlines for the federal investigation have been reported.