Alex Pretti’s parents reportedly received no official phone calls and no immediate notification from law enforcement about their 37-year-old son being fatally struck by a group of US Border Patrol officers.
Michael and Susan Pretti said they struggled to get basic information from the authorities about the sudden loss of their son, leading to further outrage among members of the distraught community.
Highlights
- Alex Pretti’s parents reportedly were not immediately informed by authorities about their son's passing.
- They spoke about their 37-year-old son's profession and remembered him as a “kind-hearted soul.”
- His ex-wife also spoke about him and their situation following their divorce.
“Not surprised. The government doesn’t care about us,” one commented online.
Alex Pretti’s parents reportedly received no official phone calls from law enforcement about their 37-year-old son's sudden loss
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Alex Pretti was pinned down by multiple federal agents during a skirmish that unfolded just before 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 24.
Details provided by authorities are contradictory to witness statements and videos of the fatal encounter, which ended with federal agents firing at least 10 bullets in a span of five seconds.
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Michael and Susan Pretti reportedly found out about their son’s tragic passing when an AP News reporter reached out to them.
After watching video footage of the encounter, the bereaved parents said the civilian struck by federal agents appeared to be their 37-year-old son Alex. They then began contacting officials in Minnesota.
“I can’t get any information from anybody,” Alex’s father told the outlet on Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions.”
The parents eventually called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and were told that they had a body matching the identity and description of their son.
The family contacted the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and were told that they had a body matching Alex's identity and description
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The family released a statement expressing outrage over the “sickening lies” by officials about their son.
“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” read the statement.
They also noted that Alex was not holding a firearm in videos capturing his final moments.
When federal agents tackled him, he had a phone in his hand instead of a firearm, and his other hand was shielding a woman being pepper-sprayed by the agents, the family said.
“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man,” they said.
Image credits: Michael Pretti
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The parents revealed that Alex was an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse and described him as a “kind-hearted soul.” He worked at a Veterans Affairs facility, where he dedicatedly cared for patients, they said.
“Alex wanted to make a difference in this world,” Michael and Susan said in a statement released through the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. “Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact.”
Alex graduated from Green Bay Preble High School in 2006 and from the University of Minnesota in 2011, with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society, and the environment.
After working as a research scientist, he went back to school and became a registered nurse.
The family revealed that Alex was an ICU nurse working at a Veterans Affairs facility
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Alex had participated in protests over the January 7 sho*ting of Renee Good by an ICE officer.
His ex-wife, who said she wasn’t surprised that Alex was involved in protests against the US president’s immigration crackdown, revealed that he had participated in the numerous street protests that took place after George Floyd’s life was taken by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, close to the neighborhood they were living in at the time.
The former spouse said Alex was someone who may have shouted at officers during protests but was never one to become physical with them.
After their divorce about two years ago, the ex-wife moved to another state and hasn’t spoken to him since, she said.
The ex-wife called Alex a Democratic voter and noted that he had a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago. She knew that he owned at least one semiautomatic handg*n at the time of their split.
Image credits: WCCO - CBS Minnesota
After Alex was fatally struck by immigration officers, the Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S) claimed they took a weapon from his possession and fired at him in self-defence.
“The officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect violently resisted,” said the D.H.S. statement.
However, his family said their son, who is a lawful weapon owner with a permit, was merely trying to protect a woman and had a phone in his hand when the agents wrestled him to the ground.
Local and state authorities in Minnesota said the D.H.S. impeded them from investigating the circumstances surrounding Alex’s passing, just like the case of Renee Good’s sho*ting, and their access to crucial evidence and facts has been cut off.
The bereaved family said videos and witness accounts contradict details provided by authorities about his passing
Image credits: KSTP-TV
Netizens expressed outrage after claims that the family learning about their son’s loss through a media reporter.
“No one picked up the phone to inform them that their son had been k*lled, and as of Saturday night, they still hadn’t heard anything from federal officials,” one said.
“That’s appalling that poor family! Their son was obviously a good man trying to protect a woman from bullies,” read one comment.
Another wrote, “I’m absolutely disgusted by my country. Have been for a while now but this week has been one of the worst for me.”
“Finding out this way would be horrific,” one commented online
