Fundraiser for Alex Pretti family raises nearly $700,000 day after fatal shooting | Minneapolis
An online fundraiser for Alex Pretti’s family had raised nearly $700,000 by Sunday afternoon, a day after federal agents killed the U.S. citizen and his nurse in Minneapolis in a shooting that sparked a new round of street protests against Donald Trump’s administration and its crackdown on immigration in the city.
In a substantial sign of public opinion, the “Alex Pretti is an American Hero” campaign on the GoFundMe platform quickly exceeded its $20,000 goal after it was launched Saturday by organizer Keith Edwards.
A statement attributed to Edwards on Saturday said the aim of the campaign was “to support loved ones [Pretti] left behind with immediate needs” after being “executed in the streets of Minneapolis.” Another statement from Edwards on Sunday said he was able to convince GoFundMe to make Pretti’s father, Michael, the beneficiary of the campaign – “so that their family now has direct access to the funds raised.”
“Thank you all so much for your support,” Edwards also wrote as donations came in from around 18,500 users.
GoFundMe did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Pretti, 37, was a registered nurse working in the intensive care unit of the Minneapolis VA Health System, which serves veterans.
Videos circulating online Saturday showed Pretti directing traffic and filming federal immigration agents descending on Minneapolis at the behest of the Trump White House.
In one of the videos, Pretti was holding his phone in his right hand, with his left hand empty. Other videos show him defending a legal observer who was pushed to the ground by a federal officer. This officer then sprays Pretti with a chemical agent several times, before tackling him into the street with other officers.
As the officers held him down and beat him, one of them reached for Pretti’s lower back and walked away with what appeared to be a gun. The video shows one of the officers then shouting: “Gun! Gun!”
Another officer pulled out a gun and apparently shot Pretti once at point-blank range. A second officer pointed a gun at Pretti as he and his colleagues backed away, and a volley of 10 more shots erupted, video evidence showed.
Pretti was legally allowed to carry a gun, and none of the video evidence – taken from multiple angles – showed him brandishing one.
In a statement to Minneapolis newspaper Kare 11, Pretti’s father and mother, Susan, described themselves as “heartbroken but also very angry.” They rejected what they called “sickening lies” from Trump administration officials after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Saturday made the blatantly false accusation that Pretti was shot as he approached federal officers while brandishing a gun.
Noem also accused Pretti of planning to “kill law enforcement,” prompting her parents to say in their statement, “Alex is clearly not holding a gun when he is attacked by the murderous, cowardly Trump.” [immigration] thugs.
“Please get the truth about our son. He was a good man.”
Pretti’s killing came 17 days after Renee Nicole Good, also a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot and killed in Minneapolis by a federal immigration agent, with video showing her trying to get away from him. A GoFundMe campaign to financially support Good’s family raised more than $1.5 million before organizers closed it two days after his shooting death.
Street protests followed the killings of Good and Pretti, along with widespread calls for officers at the center of affairs to be held accountable.
