Colleagues of ICU nurse Alex Pretti held a moment of silence Monday to honor their fallen coworker, who was fatally shot by federal immigration agents over the weekend.
Photos show workers at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center lining the intensive care unit halls, heads bowed, to honor Pretti, 37. One worker is seen burying his face in his hands.
The photos were shared on Facebook by Pretti’s colleague Garrett Peterson, who wrote, “A moment of silence for Alex Pretti. One of our colleagues!! May he rest in peace.”
Pretti was gunned down by multiple masked agents in a Minneapolis street on Saturday while they wrestled him to the ground after he filmed them during a deportation operation.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quickly smeared Pretti as a “domestic terrorist,” while Vice President JD Vance suggested he was an “assassin.” The Trump administration has since tried to walk back its accusations.
Family, friends, and colleagues of Pretti have described him as a “kindhearted soul” and a cherished mentor to new ICU nurses.
Dr. Aasma Shaukat, who hired Pretti in 2014 as a research assistant in the clinical research program at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, told CNN’s Erin Burnett that he was “very calm” and had “a lot of empathy and compassion that shone through.”
Pretti’s parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, said in a statement, “Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world.”
A video showing Pretti giving a final salute to a veteran he treated in the ICU in 2024 went viral over the weekend.
“Today, we remember that freedom is not free. We have to work at it, nurture it, protect it and even sacrifice for it,” Pretti says in the video. “May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served, so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom. So in this moment, we remember and give thanks for their dedication and selfless service to our nation in the cause of freedom. In this solemn hour, we render our honor and our gratitude.”
