Andy Cohen is calling out ICE for the killing of nurse Alex Pretti, whom the TV host and Real Housewives producer said Monday night was “murdered in broad daylight.”
Cohen took a break from his Watch What Happens Live! show to address “the horrific events unfolding in Minneapolis.” He has been vocal about his political stances over the years, endorsing Kamala Harris in 2024 and defending his decision to speak out about politics. The ICE killings of Pretti, as well as the 37-year-old mom of three, Renée Good, have prompted a handful of celebrities to denounce Donald Trump’s deployment of the deportation agents in Minneapolis.
“Pretti was holding his iPhone, exercising his constitutional right to protest, when he was murdered in broad daylight by ICE officials,” Cohen said during the show. “He was a licensed gun owner with a gun that was not drawn.”
Despite Pretti’s legal concealed carry permit, Trump officials have harped on the handgun Pretti was carrying. Per multiple bystander videos, Pretti’s gun appeared to be in the possession of an ICE agent when he was fatally shot.
While Trump and his administration are reportedly divided about how to address the blowback of the ICE killings, their primary narrative was that Pretti was a domestic terrorist who tried to attack agents. No evidence of the story has been given.
Another story pushed by officials is that “paid protestors” are traveling to Minneapolis to incite chaos. Cohen addressed that narrative directly on Monday.
“I’ve seen a lot of gaslighting on the Housewives, and that is all fun and games—but we need to believe what we’re seeing with our own eyes,” he said. “If these are paid protesters, as we’re being told, show us the receipts, even one receipt,” he said. “This issue is not left versus right. This isn’t even about immigration reform, which the nation wants.”
He went on, “We all have to decide if we want to live in a society in which our government kills citizens and then tells us not to believe what we are seeing with our own eyes.”
“And I know that that is not the America that I believe in, or any of us want,” he concluded. “Everyone, please stay safe out there. Minneapolis, we love you.”
