Jimmy Kimmel broke down in tears as he paid tribute to a slain Minneapolis nurse who he said was “as patriotic as it gets.”
In his first appearance since 37-year-old Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration agents on a Minneapolis street on Saturday, the late-night host used his opening monologue to slam the brutality of Donald Trump’s anti-immigration drive. Kimmel said he spent the weekend “feeling shocked and sick” as events ran out of control in Minnesota.
“One video after another,” he said. “Screaming people being torn from their families, Americans—people who were born in the United States—being pulled out of their cars for the crime of having an accent or whatever, children—small children, babies—being tear-gassed, taken into custody, separated from their parents, just one atrocity after another..."
He called ICE agents a “gang of poorly trained, shamefully led, mask-wearing goons.”
“And that is what they are—they’re goons committing vile, heartless, and even criminal acts,” he continued. “It’s like we’re all being forced to play a game that has no rules. They just make up the rules as they go along.”
“Is that the law and order that you voted for? If you voted for this? Every day is a nightmare now,” he said. Kimmel added that he and his wife have family in Minneapolis who are “afraid” to go about their everyday lives. “And I can only imagine how people who aren’t white feel about this,” he added.
Kimmel slammed the narrative from the Trump administration that the Border Patrol agents who shot Pretti were justified in their actions. Officials have claimed the agent who killed Pretti had the right to do so because he was carrying a gun—even though he had a permit to do so.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleged that Pretti wanted to “massacre law enforcement.” That echoed the narrative after an ICE agent fatally shot Minneapolis mother Renee Nicole Good as she tried to drive away from a protest on Jan. 7.
In both cases, video footage of the killings has contradicted accounts from federal officials.
“We see these videos—in which we clearly see one of our fellow Americans executed, by ICE—and they won’t even admit that it was a mistake,” Kimmel said. He called out the administration’s claims about both Good and Pretti, adding that Pretti “did not even draw, did not touch” the gun that was legally in his possession.
Despite video evidence, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti “had a weapon on him, and multiple—dozens—of rounds of ammunition, wishing to inflict harm on these officers, coming, brandishing like that.” She also claimed Pretti “attacked” law enforcement officers.
Kimmel slammed Noem, saying, “Our ironically titled head of Homeland Security has the responsibility to get facts.”
“It’s on video. Look at it! Do your own research!
“Can we agree that peaceful protesters—including moms driving SUVs on their way back after dropping their 6-year-old off at school, and a nurse who stepped in to protect a woman from harm—don’t deserve to be shot dead in the street, by the people we are paying to protect us," Kimmel said.
Seeming both exasperated and impassioned, Kimmelit’s time for “reasonable voices” to come forth, time to “cut the bulls--t already.”
“If that was ISIS, instead of ICE? We’d be firing missiles at somebody and pledging allegiance to the flag all together right now,” he said. “Watch that video—watch every angle, as upsetting as it might be—and decide for yourself if that’s making America great. And if it isn’t, please say something about it."
“This has to stop,” he pleaded. “And I’m convinced now that the only people who can stop it are on the right.”
The host included a message for the victims’ families. “To the people of Minneapolis, to the Pretti family, and the Good family, and these people who were looking out for their neighbors, we want you to know that we are with you,” Kimmel said. “And you are not alone.”
He then ended his monologue with a 2024 video of Pretti, who worked with veterans, honoring one of his patients after his death. Tearing up once again, Kimmel called Pretti “as patriotic as it gets.”
