Alex Pretti Died Defending an EMT. ICE Wouldn’t Let Her Treat Him.

ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by a swarm of ICE agents in Minneapolis moments after helping a few women. One of them, according to new reports, was also a medical professional, who was denied the opportunity to help Pretti in his final moments.

In an exclusive interview with The interceptionthe emergency medical technician — whose credentials were reviewed by the outlet but who remained unidentified due to fear of government retaliation — claimed she attempted to perform CPR on Pretti but was thwarted by a masked ICE agent who restrained her.

“I could tell the second I saw him that he was horribly injured,” the EMT said. “I immediately said, ‘I’m a paramedic! He has a brain injury! He has a serious brain injury! I have to help him right away.'”

Moments before Pretti’s death, video captured by bystanders from multiple angles showed the 37-year-old filming ICE activity before intervening between another protester and an agent who violently pushed her to the ground. Both protesters were then sprayed with a chemical irritant and Pretti was pulled from the other protester as she continued to slide on a mound of snow.

At least seven officers were on top of Pretti, pinning him to the ground, when one of them, standing above the situation and apparently supporting the other officers, grabbed his gun and shot Pretti. Video footage captured the sound of 10 gunshots.

Footage over the next few seconds captured the paramedic’s voice on audio, indicating that Pretti was in pain.dissect the posture“, a phenomenon in which the hands and legs become twisted into the body as a result of brain trauma.

“I was literally begging the officer who was restraining me to let me do CPR,” she recalls. “Because I knew that if he wasn’t already pulseless at that point, he would be pulseless very, very soon.”

Then Pretti died. His death was later judged homicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

The government is constitutionally obligated to keep people safe once they are in custody. The legal principle is linked to due process, outlined in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Parameters set by the Justice Department also state that officers are not allowed to ignore serious health conditions or risks of harm, such as assault, that could put a person’s life in danger. Unfortunately, in Pretti’s case, the officers seemed to ignore both of these principles.

“The government’s responsibility is to make sure the person in its custody is cared for and alive,” Xavier de Janon, director of mass advocacy at the National Lawyers Guild, told The Intercept. “If government agencies fail to keep someone alive and there is evidence that it is their fault, they could be held accountable for their actions.”