“Nobody deserves to be executed on the streets”: Minneapolis healthcare workers denounce ICE occupation and repression
Despite the temporary sidelining of Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino and the cosmetic “de-escalation” by the Trump administration, the federal occupation of Minneapolis continues unabated. Immigration police remain embedded across the city, carrying out raids, surveillance, and violent repression aimed at terrorizing immigrants and the working class. For residents, nurses, and healthcare workers confronting this occupation daily, nothing fundamental has changed.
New reporting by journalist Ken Klippenstein exposes the broader architecture behind this repression. The Department of Homeland Security is systematically compiling secret “watchlists” that classify protesters as “domestic terrorists” for exercising their constitutional right to oppose an increasingly authoritarian government. As one masked federal agent taunted a protester filming him in Maine last week, “We have a nice little database and now you’re considered a domestic terrorist.” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded by insisting, “There is NO database of ‘domestic terrorists’ run by DHS.” Klippenstein’s report demonstrates that this denial is a lie.
According to senior national security officials cited by Klippenstein, DHS, the FBI, ICE, and Border Patrol operate a sprawling network of secret databases used to track, surveil, and target protesters, immigrants, and their associates, creating what officials describe as a “common operating picture” in cities like Minneapolis. It is under this framework that opposition to kidnappings, executions, and mass repression is criminalized, while violence by the state is justified as “impeding federal law enforcement.”
On Tuesday, ICE agents attempted to enter Ecuador’s consulate in Minneapolis in blatant violation of diplomatic immunity protections. “Consulate officials immediately prevented the ICE officer from entering the consular headquarters, thus ensuring the protection of the Ecuadorians who were at the consular headquarters at that time,” Ecuador’s foreign ministry stated. According to a video of the incident the ICE agent after being told he could not enter replied, “Relax, relax, I didn’t enter,” before telling the staffer: “If you touch me, I will grab you.” Shortly afterwards, the agent left.
In an article titled, “Trump signals interest in easing tensions, but Minneapolis sees little change on the streets,” the Star Tribune cites another incident Wednesday when journalists from the Associated Press were accosted by federal agents for recording their attack on a small convoy of residents following them.
The Tribune continues:
When Associated Press journalists got out of their car to document the encounter, officers with the federal Bureau of Prisons pushed one of them, threatened them with arrest and told them to get back in their car despite the reporters’ identifying themselves as journalists. Officers from multiple federal agencies have been involved in the enforcement operations. Officers from multiple federal agencies have been involved in the enforcement operations. From their car, the AP journalists saw at least one person being pepper sprayed and one detained, though it was unclear if that person was the target of the operation or a protester. Agents also broke car windows.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is visiting Minnesota, said 16 people were arrested Wednesday on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement in the state. She said more arrests were expected.
“NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law,” Bondi said in a social media post.”
Against this backdrop, WSWS reporters spoke with nurses and healthcare workers who are drawing clear conclusions. They oppose the occupation, reject the criminalization of dissent, and support a general strike uniting workers across the country, including in health care workers in California and New York City, against Trump’s conspiracy to establish a dictatorship.
“What’s happening in our cities is terrifying,” a nurse at M Health Fairview told the WSWS. “This is about humanity and sticking up for our fellow neighbors and watching out for them. I live out in the suburbs, so I’m not deep in Minneapolis. But it’s still scary even out there, and my heart breaks for the families that are being separated.
“I am trying to do whatever I can to help, bringing groceries to people and helping through our school systems for the kids who can’t go to school and are scared to leave their houses right now.
“As a healthcare provider, I think it’s my job to see anybody and I don’t ask questions. I want to make sure that they’re getting the care that they need. So, we come to work day after day and make sure they’re getting their care. We’re being careful in clinics, making sure that people feel safe when they’re being seen and safe getting here as much as they can. We’re all trying to do our part and it’s bringing Minnesotans together, rallying to stick up for our fellow humans around us and take care of our neighbors.”
“I’m a registered nurse for the University of Minnesota Physicians. In regards to Alex Pretti and him being a registered nurse that hits close to home. I didn’t know him, but I know of him. It’s wrong that he was murdered just because he was trying to do the right thing by trying to help an innocent bystander up off the ground.”
Another nurse said, “People are under the concept that we don’t have any power. But when you look at how many people there really are in the world, the United States and in one state, we have more than they have. It’s just a ploy with the government to keep us blind to what they’re really doing, and that’s trying to control things. The Trump government knows they are losing the battle so they’re pulling out everything that they can possibly do, including murdering Alex Pretti. There are a lot of other martyrs they’ve killed too. There’s go to be a stopping point.”
A primary care provider said, “What ICE and Trump are doing right now is creating a lot of fear and chaos, especially for our patients. I’m seeing that patients too scared to come to appointment. So, it’s not only the violence that’s happening on the streets, but it’s like the fear that is also causing harm and causing people to not feel like it’s safe to even do simple things like going to the doctors.”
A medical resident at the University of Minnesota said, “We’re absolutely outraged by the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Many of the residents knew Alex personally at the VA. They were able to speak to speak to his character and what type of person he was. Nobody deserves to be executed on the streets for trying to help someone and trying to protect someone. What’s happening is devastating for our patients in our community.”
The resident said she supported the strikes by nurses in New York City and nurses and health care workers in California and Hawaii “100 percent.” As for the building up the organization and momentum for a general strike to drive ICE out of Minneapolis and all other cities, she said, “I haven’t thought a lot about striking yet, but I do think as Trump escalates, we have to escalate. Everything that we do is for patient care and it’s always a hard balance because we want to show up for them every day. But it’s coming to a point where we do have to take a stand for everyone’s well-being because we’re operating under a system that’s not sustainable.”
Striking San Diego Kaiser nurse condemns murder of Alex Pretti, backs general strike: “We are the ones who should be running this country”
“It’s just a way to quiet us down, but we should get louder now”
Workers and young people reacted with skepticism towards Trump’s claims he has reached a deal with Democratic Governor Tim Walz to “deescalate” the situation by removing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official Greg Bovino from Minneapolis and dispatching “border czar” Tom Homan to oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the city.
In the face of mass opposition to the ICE murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, the Trump administration is carrying out a tactical retreat even as it presses ahead with it plans to crush opposition and impose a police-military dictatorship. For their part, Democrats like Governor Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, have pledged to collaborate with federal agencies to press ahead with the arrest of immigrants and the suppression of popular resistance.
A Border Patrol memo leaked to journalist Ken Klippenstein contradicts claims that the Trump administration is scaling back its mass deportation operation. “Metro Surge is steady state and expected to continue as planned,” the memo states, making clear that the operation remains ongoing, with only superficial changes aimed at containing growing opposition and fears of broader social unrest.
Underscoring that the attacks on the democratic rights of all Minnesota residents are still ongoing, a video appeared on social media Tuesday showing a federal agent threatening to kill someone for speaking. The widely circulated video shows a federal immigration agent telling a resident, “If you raise your voice, I will erase your voice.”
WSWS reporters spoke with workers and students Tuesday about the political maneuvers by Trump and the Democrats to curtail popular opposition.
“Trump said he and Governor Walz are on a similar ‘wavelength’ now,” a school service worker said. “I feel like Walz and the Democrats are capitulating. They haven't really done much to fight this. Frey has said, ‘ICE has to get out,’ but as an employee of the Minneapolis public schools I have not seen any actual tangible things they’ve done.
“Trump agreeing to send in Homan isn’t going to change anything. They haven’t held anyone responsible. I heard they shipped the Border Patrol guy who killed Pretti out to Maine. They’re moving out Bovino. But he took orders from Noem. It goes Bovino, Noem, Homan, Trump. The orders came down the line. The people who gave the orders are now coming in, and they’re still in power.
“They’re just bringing in someone that’s not as ham fisted or as dumb as Bovino, someone who worked with Obama and was in the Obama administration. They’re just trying to dress it up as, ‘Okay, the adults are here now, and the people need to stay out in the streets.’ Instead, we need to keep raising our voice until they stop.
“My entire life, I thought Republicans are a cudgel and the Democrats are the carrot and stick. So, Walz working with Trump is not making any actual progress on getting them out. It’s just, what can we do to make this look less bad. At the same time, Pam Bondi is telling us, ‘Give us your voter registration, give us the medical records, and we'll make it go away.’ That’s straight up extortion.
“They’re sort of recalibrating after these mass protests. The day after the giant rally and march, they murdered Alex Pretti. It’s obvious they were sending a message. I don't know if Pretti was a setup, per se, but I think they went out with the intention that day to murder somebody and take the power back to their side.
“This is a maneuver to put the people on the sidelines, to appease and calm us down. The danger of dictatorship has not gone away. It's ever present and our entire democracy has changed. The two-party system is a failure. Capitalism is a failure. American society is not working, but it keeps people in power, and those people are doing their damnedest to stay in power.
“To me, the Democrats and Republicans are part of the same power structure, working together to get the situation under control and back on the track that they want it to be, which, in my mind, is authoritarianism, whether it’s overt or subtly.”
Asked what he thought the response of workers should be to the advice by the Democrats and the union apparatus to deescalate their offensive against Trump, he said, “We should do the exact opposite. We need to keep up the momentum. You lose momentum by sitting back and going to the bargaining table. You lose the people’s energy and emotions. We’re stirred up right now. We’re living in an armed occupation, and you got to keep pushing forward.
“At a certain point it becomes so odious, and you’re so outraged, that workers will stop the machine from operating, and that’s capitalism. We have to stop generating the profits for these people. A general strike is long overdue. The working class has to send a message that we’re not capitulating, that we have the power and this capitalist society is done.
“Until recently, I was only thinking about my struggle and my family. But now I’m realizing to make my situation better, I got to help make the situation for everyone better. More people are starting to think we collectively have to come together to make it better for everyone.”
Asked what he thought about the Socialist Equality Party’s proposal for workers to organize rank-and-file committees in every workplace, school and neighborhood, which would act independently of the union apparatus and both corporate-controlled parties, he said, “That’s what needs to be done. We, the people, have the power.”
University of Minnesota students also treated Trump’s claims with skepticism. One student denounced the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti as “murder,” adding that her friends, neighbors and classmates were being traumatized by the occupation of the city.
“Just to get one guy [Bovino] out is not going to stop what they’re doing. There’s still people being killed. There’s still people being detained. Moving some ICE agents out of the state does not move people out of detention centers. It does not put families back together.
“I think it’s a way to quiet us down and I don’t think we should quiet down. If anything, we should get louder right now because this is an effort for them to stop us and I don’t think we should. So go to protests, speak your mind.”
Referring to the role of Walz and the Democrats, she said, “A lot of people in power are kind of the same, even if they try to act different. Because even if they say something, their actions are going to speak louder. Waltz and Frey haven't done any physical actions to help our people.”
She supported the call for a national general strike, saying, “It’s important to send a message and a strike is a very strong one, especially if it has national support.” Commenting on the strike of nurses and healthcare workers on the East and West Coasts, she said, “It’s a very powerful statement for nurses to be striking. They are one of the most important group of workers in America, and they are giving recognition to one of their own [ICU nurse Alex Pretti] who was killed.
“The government speaks for the top 1 percent of the people who gives them money. If workers start to shut down government systems, it would make a difference.”
“Alex Pretti’s shooting was a public execution,” another student said. “It was a political act of murder to silence dissent from a guy who was just helping a woman off the ground. He got pepper sprayed, tackled, and shot a dozen times. The fact that our government is so eager to say, don’t believe anything you see or hear, what we tell you is what is the truth is, that’s authoritarianism, that is fascism. We don’t have to pretend like it’s some sort of far-off idea. That’s where we are.
“The people in power, the oligarchs, the wealthy, the politicians, understand two forces, and that is the force of violence and the force of labor. I think we’ve already had enough violence with ICE murdering two people in broad daylight for no reason other than because they felt like killing somebody. So, I think the best way to use our time is to withhold our labor and say, hey, we won’t produce the things that make you money at our expense unless you stop murdering us in the street.
“I work at a grocery store that didn’t want to close, but half the store called in even without the organization of a general strike by the unions. If you know union leaders themselves won’t say, ‘Yes, we’re going to do a general strike,’ if people just all decide that they are not going to work, they are going close things down. That’s powerful because the people who want these ICE murders only make money off our labor. So, if we don’t work, then they’re going to lose.
“The working class are the majority and if we want a classless society then the many need to take power.”
ICE agents attack healthcare workers and protesters at vigil for Alex Pretti in Eugene, Oregon
On January 27, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used tear gas, flash bangs and pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Eugene, Oregon. The crowd had gathered for a candlelight vigil for Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse murdered by federal agents last week while helping a woman who had been shoved to the ground by Trump’s immigration Gestapo.
The vigil was called by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), which issued a statement on January 24 opposing Pretti’s murder. Local Democratic Party officials, including Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson, State Senator James Manning, and State Representative Lisa Fragala, spoke at the vigil. All three bourgeois politicians left before ICE agents began to attack those who wanted to remain and continue to pay their respects. And while the ONA called the vigil that was attacked by ICE, it has so far not issued a statement condemning the assault and arrests.
The attack on the vigil was one of three separate assaults on demonstrators conducted by federal agents throughout the day, kidnapping up to eight people according to witnesses. In one incident captured on social media, ICE agents in full tactical gear seized a protester holding an LGBTQ flag who had only shouted through windows at federal personnel. The detained individual was dragged into the federal building while additional agents took positions on the roof.
Among those attacked included several local nurses who attended the vigil, though it’s not clear at the time of writing if any of the healthcare workers present were among those detained.
The most aggressive of the attacks was at the downtown Eugene Federal Building. Student journalists from Lane Community College’s Torch and the University of Oregon’s Daily Emerald were deliberately targeted while covering the protests, with one Torch reporter struck by pepper balls six times while attempting to document the violence. One protester suffered severe eye injuries while another was knocked unconscious by a tear gas canister.
Videos also show ICE pointing their rifles at the gathered crowds. Other reports indicate that officers threatened the demonstrators with tasers.
Other accounts have noted that Eugene police observed the attacks without intervening to protect protesters, journalists or medical personnel providing aid to those injured by chemical agents. Officers circled the block and “postured” near the scene, at one point driving past with personnel hanging from vehicle doors in an apparent show of force.
The assault on the nurses’ vigil occurred as ICE conducted coordinated operations throughout the region, with sightings reported in Springfield and Medford on the same day. The simultaneous actions are a deliberate strategy of mass intimidation targeting both immigrant communities and the working class as a whole.
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked during town hall in North Minneapolis
Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar was attacked Tuesday during a town hall meeting in North Minneapolis when a man charged the podium and sprayed her with an unknown substance that witnesses described as having a strong, pungent odor. The substance was in a long syringe the man had in his right hand.
The incident occurred as Omar was addressing constituents. Security intervened immediately, and the event was halted. Omar was not visibly injured, though the nature of the substance has not yet been publicly identified.
At least two other politicians were also sprayed with the substance. LaTrisha Vetaw, a Minneapolis City Council member said she was also struck and went home to wash the substance off her skin. In a statement she said, “This was an act of violence” that was “frightening, intentional and completely unacceptable.”
State Senator Bobby Joe Champion said he was also struck by the pungent substance.
The man accused of spraying Omar has been identified as Anthony J. Kazmierczak, 55. He is currently being held without bond on assault charges.
The attack comes amid escalating political tensions in Minneapolis, including the ongoing federal immigration operation, mass protests, and a campaign of violent rhetoric directed at political opponents of the Trump administration. Omar herself has been a frequent target of the Trump administration going back to his first term in office.
As part of the “big lie” to justify the federal occupation of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the largest metro area in Minnesota and home to over 100,000 Somali Americans, in the last two months President Donald Trump has escalated his attacks not only on Omar but on all Somali people, castigating them as subhuman “garbage” responsible for billions of dollars in fraud.
Speaking at a town hall in Iowa earlier on Tuesday, Trump defended the ongoing federal occupation of Minnesota, falsely claimed that “thousands” of criminals have been arrested in Minnesota. The fascist president claimed that immigrants were responsible for the vast majority of criminal activity in the United States. He said that immigrants may “blow up our shopping centers, blow up our farms, kill people” and that “2 percent of the population causes 90 percent of the crime.”
Sister of Alex Pretti issues statement after Trump officials smeared her brother as “domestic terrorist” and “would-be assassin”
Micayla Pretti, the younger sister of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis man murdered by federal agents over the weekend, released a statement Tuesday condemning both the killing of her brother and the lies spread about him in its immediate aftermath.
Within hours of Alex Pretti’s death, senior Trump administration officials publicly smeared him. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem referred to Pretti as a “domestic terrorist,” while White House adviser Stephen Miller labeled him a “would-be assassin.” These claims were issued before any investigation had been conducted and despite video evidence showing Pretti unarmed, on the ground, and posing no threat when he was shot multiple times in the back while on his hands and knees.
Micayla Pretti’s statement directly addresses the human cost of both the killing and the campaign of official slander that followed.
Alex was kind, generous, and had a way of lighting up every room he walked into. He was incredibly intelligent and deeply passionate, and he made people feel safe. But most importantly, he was my brother. I had the privilege of being his little sister for 32 years. I will never be able to hug him, laugh with him, or cry to him again because of those thugs and that is a pain no words can fully capture.
Alex always wanted to make a difference in this world, and it’s devastating that he won’t be here to witness the impact he was making. Through his work at the VA caring for the sickest patients, and passion to advance cancer research, he touched more lives than he probably ever realized. All Alex ever wanted was to help someone, anyone. Even in his very last moments on this earth, he was simply trying to do just that.
I want to thank everyone who has reached out to my family and me, whether you knew Alex personally or not. The messages, posts, and overwhelming positivity shared about him truly reflect his character, work ethic, and passions. My brother is, and always will be, my hero.
When does this end? How many more innocent lives must be lost before we say enough? Hearing disgusting lies spread about my brother is absolutely gut-wrenching, and my family is deeply grateful so many people have stood up and helped tell his truth. He would be very proud.
Veteran of US war in Afghanistan: “It’s completely unacceptable what happened to Alex Pretti.”
Co-workers of Alex Pretti along with patients at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis expressed sorrow and anger over the cold-blooded murder of the 37-year-old ICU nurse who was known for his compassion and care.
Reporters from the World Socialist Web Site spoke to healthcare workers outside of the VA center Monday afternoon, while co-workers inside the facility held a vigil for the well-loved nurse.
“I worked with him four years ago as a student,” said one worker. “He wasn’t my direct preceptor. I had another nurse who was my first doctor, but Alex was a delight on the unit, always cracking a joke, always had a smile. I didn’t know him as closely as his other ICU colleagues, but this was an absolute tragedy.
“Lots of my other co-workers were communicating that day and they were just truly very broken.” Responding to the Trump officials’ lying claims that Pretti was “brandishing a gun,” she said, “Frustration was everyone’s immediate reaction at this point. Yeah, he doesn’t deserve that.”
In a widely shared Facebook post, Jessica Hauser, who described herself as Pretti’s “last nursing student,” described working “shoulder to shoulder” with him over the last four months treating the “sickest of the sick.”
In her tribute, she wrote in part:
Alex carried patience, compassion and calm as a steady light within him. Even at the very end, that light was there. I recognized his familiar stillness and signature calm composure shining through during those unbearable final moments captured on camera.
It does not surprise me that his final words were, “Are you okay?” Caring for people was at the core of who he was. He was incapable of causing harm. He lived a life of healing, and he lived it well.
He spoke out for justice and peace whenever he could, not only out of obligation, but out of a belief that we are more connected than divided, and that communication would bring us together.
I want his family to know his legacy lives on. I am a better nurse because of the wisdom and skills he instilled in me. I carry his light with me into every room, letting it guide and steady my hands as I heal and care for those in need.
A medical student at the VA told WSWS reporters, “It’s pretty messed up what they did, and it was a violation of his basic civil rights, as outlined in the Bill of Rights. So clearly, they don’t care about that stuff anymore. And trying to flip the narrative as if he was doing something wrong, it’s blatant propaganda. It was obvious, if you look at the video.
“He worked here at the VA and was someone who cared about America’s veterans and was working every day to help the people who have dedicated their lives for this country. So, the fact that a bunch of thugs can just do that is a pretty big injustice.”
Asked what he thought about the working class preparing a general strike to demand the removal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from Minneapolis and other cities, he said, “It’s clear if the federal government doesn’t want to protect the people, they have to take matters into their own hands… Resistance like striking is a great way to go about doing that.”
Commenting on the strikes of nurses in New York City and nurses and healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii, he said, “I haven’t heard about that but that’s great to hear that people care about this. The American healthcare system is far from ideal. For profit, healthcare isn’t how it should be arranged. I’ve heard the Vienna VA is dealing with staffing problems and it makes it harder for veterans to access care.”
Another VA medical student said, “There’s a vigil today trying to support the community. Our reaction was like any person’s reaction. It was completely jaw-dropping that something happened to that degree and that violent. I just hope we can keep supporting our community and hold strong together.
“I don’t think the government should try to blame someone for peaceful protesting. It was obvious what happened. It’s harmful to say that’s someone’s fault when they are just enacting their First Amendment rights. It’s even worse when someone who is trying to give back to the community ended up being murdered.”
The student expressed support for the strikes of nurses and healthcare workers in New York City, California and Hawaii. “I support that as a nursing student. It’s inspirational to see that the community fighting for what’s right, especially with staffing ratios. It’s for patient safety and the nurses’ safety.”
Two veterans also spoke out forcefully about the murder of Pretti.
A veteran of the US war in Afghanistan said, “It’s complete unacceptable what happened to Alex Pretti. If there wasn’t already a line in the sand, there certainly is now, and the fact that this is what America has become is completely ridiculous. I’m a veteran myself. I spent 12 months in Afghanistan. Just got back here at the VA from the Whipple [ICE detention] building, where I ran into several other veterans from various areas of war, and all of us have the same opinion that this is completely unacceptable.
“It’s capitalism. These wars are all about money, and just whatever they can do to get more money and power.”
Asked about the conclusions that many of his generation were coming to, he said, “It’s almost like we’re all becoming socialists, which wouldn’t be the worst thing.”
He concluded by expressing support for a general strike throughout the US: “For it. I’m 100 percent for it.”
A Vietnam War veteran said, “I didn’t know Alex Pretti personally, but I’ve been going to the VA since 1974 and he served us vets. He was attacked for protecting a woman. He was disarmed. He was held down by five or six cops, and then they took out a gun and shot him in the back four or five times. If that is not deliberate murder, you explain to me what it is.
“Why ICE should be able to get away with murdering somebody in public for everybody to see is beyond my comprehension. I have been at the protests. I’ve been out there all day long in the cold, in my wheelchair. Everybody in this country is an immigrant. We all came from other countries to come here to be prosperous and, you know, be free. We all have rights.
“Even the immigrants that come here ‘illegally’ have rights. Okay, we’re all the same. Maybe they came here illegally, but they still have rights. You can’t kill people. You can’t handcuff people and throw them on a plane.
“When Trump says he hates Somalis and they need to all go back, let me tell you something. There’s a lot of good Somalis here that didn’t rip off a government, that don’t do wrong. This is coming from a president that is a felon, that is a crook.
“The working class is what makes this country, and you can’t tell us we don’t have the right to protest. We have that right. I myself, in a wheelchair, will continue to go out in the freezing cold and protest.”
Also speaking out was a Roosevelt High School student from a Somali background, who was waiting for her train at the light rail station outside the VA hospital. She said, “ICE should get out of Minnesota now. I’m a US citizen, but I’m scared that they might take me. My high school, Roosevelt, they did a strike as well. When ICE came in, it was very scary. They walked in and started targeting students and teachers. We didn’t think they would come to our school. We were very scared, and we all just started recording. They tackled our dean, which was very scary.
“We walked out. Everyone made their own signs.” Asked if she agreed with a national general strike, she said, “Yes. All across the country. Everyone should start protesting before it affects them. Because here in Minnesota, it’s very scary to go outside right now.”
Striking California healthcare workers denounce murder of Alex Pretti :“He was there trying to help a woman stand up, and he was assassinated”
Athletes and artists call for the abolition of immigration police, general strike following murder of Alex Pretti
Millions are outraged across the United States after 37-year-old ICU and VA nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti was gunned down by federal immigration thugs on January 24 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pretti was helping a woman to her feet after she was assaulted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents when he himself was attacked and murdered by immigration police.
The murder of Pretti took place one day after thousands of Minnesota workers, youth and residents braved dangerously cold temperatures and held a mass peaceful protest downtown demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP to leave the state.
Pretti was shot and killed roughly two miles from where fellow Minneapolis resident and 37-year-old mother Renée Nicole Good was murdered by ICE agent Jonathan Ross earlier this month. Neither Ross nor the agent, or agents, that executed Pretti have been charged with a crime.
The killing of Good, Pretti and the ongoing “mass deportation” operation has sparked not only calls for a general strike in Minneapolis and beyond, but widespread condemnation from athletes, artists and entertainers, many of whom are now joining the majority of the population in supporting calls for abolishing the immigration Gestapo and prosecuting all those responsible.
On the same day Pretti was killed, National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers posted on X, “Alex Pretti was murdered.” The post has over 23 million views, 428,000 likes and 62,000 retweets.
On Sunday, a moment of silence was held before the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves hosted the Golden State Warriors in honor of Pretti. As soon as the moment concluded, fans immediately broke out into angry screams of “F*** ICE!”
Following the game, Warriors point guard Steph Curry, one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, said he was “glued” to the television when the team arrived in Minneapolis on Friday, watching the mass protest.
“The protests that were going on downtown. It was amazing to watch the turnout and peaceful protest and, you know, the unified voice that was here, and you feel like that we kind of turned the tide, you know, to a more positive direction, and then you wake up in the morning and you see what happened.
“So obviously there was no need and no place to have a game yesterday, and it’s filtered over a little bit to the atmosphere today, as it should. You know, there’s a lot of change that needs to happen, and when you are here and you feel it, I was glued to the TV yesterday when we weren’t playing, just watching the coverage and understanding what was going on and trying to really get knowledgeable about it.”
Curry and other players on the team confirmed they filmed the mass protest on Friday from their hotel rooms. “I got videos on my phone,” Curry said. “It was like three straight hours in negative 10-degree weather. It was beautiful to see that turnout. It was amazing to watch.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said there was a “pall” over the city. “A lot of people are suffering, obviously loss of life. Those families will never get their family members back.
“I would appeal to everyone to remember what our Constitution stands for, what our values are, and what that means for how we treat each other and our fellow citizens.”
Karl-Anthony Towns, current New York Knicks All-Star and the first overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2015 NBA Draft, wrote on X:
“What is happening in the Twin Cities and the Great North Star State is heartbreaking to witness. These events have cost lives and shaken families, and we must call for accountability, transparency and protections for all people. This moment demands that we reflect honestly on what our values truly are. My thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with the families of Renée Good and Alex Pretti.”
He concluded: “I stand with the people of Minnesota.”
Fellow Knick Guerschon Yabusele wrote on X, “I can’t stop thinking about the tragic events unfolding in Minnesota, and even though I’m French, I can’t remain silent. What’s happening is beyond comprehension. We’re talking about murders here, these are serious matters. The situation must change, the government must stop operating in this way. I stand with Minnesota 🙏🏾🖤”
Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who was an assistant with the Timberwolves from 2007 to 2011, told reporters on Sunday, “The purpose of all of this stuff we do, and that we’re all in, is humanity and to treat each other a certain way. And when people cross that line, no matter who they are, they should be held to the same standard as everybody else. We’ll see everything that comes out of it, but my heart goes out to people who are losing family members recklessly. To me, that’s what those things appear to be.”
Breanna Stewart, two-time Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Most Valuable Player and co-founder of the Unrivaled three-on-three women’s basketball league, held a sign that read “Abolish ICE” during the pregame introductions ahead of the Mist’s game on Sunday.
After the game, Stewart said her sign was a “simple message of ‘Abolish ICE,’ which means having policies to uplift families and communities instead of fueling fear and violence.”
Stewart noted that her wife, Marta Zargay, is currently in the process of applying for US citizenship. “It’s scary. You see it on social media. You see it splitting up families and dissecting communities, and kids are being involved. It’s the worst in all ways.
“And to be married to Marta, we’re working to get her citizenship, and she is a legal permanent resident and all of that. But it seems like it doesn’t matter.”
During a Professional Women’s Hockey League game Sunday in St. Paul, thousands of fans of the Minnesota Frost broke out in extended chants of “ICE out now!”
Former National Football League (NFL) superstars are also speaking out. All-Pro safety Ryan Clark, a current commentator on ESPN, posted on X on January 24, “Rest easy, Alex Pretti. Bro was a hero. Prayers to his family and loved ones. Senseless death… AGAIN!!”
Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle noted on his X account Monday that while he does not like “to talk about politics on this account… Many have been scared of backlash, losing friends or followers, but I am saying clearly:
“I am NOT okay with reckless violence condoned by the Trump administration. I am NOT okay with people being murdered in their own communities. I am NOT okay with people being taken from their homes and families being ripped apart. I am NOT okay with people being denied due process. I love Minnesota and stand with my entire community. #iceout”
Current Vikings cornerback Dwight McGlothern Jr. wrote on social media the day Pretti was murdered, “It’s not right what’s happening in Minnesota.”
Well-known actors and filmmakers are also speaking out against the immigration police. At the Sundance Film Festival, several actors wore anti-ICE pins, including Olivia Wilde and Natalie Portman. In an interview at the festival, Wilde said, “We are very aware that Americans right now are out on the streets marching, and courageously so, and it’s devastating. It’s devastating.
“In a tiny way, wearing a pin does nothing, but at least we’re able to show support. I am able to show support for those protesters.”
Academy Award-nominated actor Edward Norton added, “These are not normal times. We have extrajudicial assaults on Americans and humans going on on a daily basis now, and it’s not okay. Even though people kind of have to put one foot in front of the other and deal with the demands of the day, we cannot act like this is not happening.
“I think what they are doing in Minnesota with the strike needs to expand. I think we should be talking about a national general economic strike until this is over and stopped.”
On Sunday, legendary guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine posted on social media, “SUSTAINED NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO DRIVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE. No one’s coming to save us except us.”
Stop ICE murders and repression! Build a rank-and-file movement for a general strike!
Trump’s “Murder, Inc.” and the execution of Alex Pretti
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital, was executed on the streets of Minneapolis on Saturday morning. His murder was the Trump administration’s brutal response to the massive protests the day before—when more than 100,000 people across Minnesota demanded an end to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) occupation and the police-state measures engulfing the state.
The description of Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” by White House officials demonstrates that there is no limit to the depths to which Trump and his satraps are prepared to descend in order to justify their crimes.
Alex was a nurse, who worked in an intensive care unit and dedicated his life to saving the lives of others. His family described him as “a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for.” His father wrote: “I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman.”
That act of bravery cost him his life. As ICE and CBP agents pepper-sprayed a protester and knocked her to the ground, Alex intervened. He was holding a phone. Video evidence shows that he was tackled by federal agents, who removed his legally owned firearm from Pretti’s belt and then shot him as many as 10 times, the last several as he lay on the ground. This was murder—plain and simple—and it was carried out by what amounts to Trump’s “Murder, Inc.”: a network of Nazi-like stormtroopers operating entirely outside the law.
The identities of the masked gunmen who murdered Pretti in cold blood are being concealed from the public. But the main instigators of the crime are not in doubt. They are President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, chief White House adviser Stephen Miller, Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, CBP commander Greg Bovino and FBI Director Kash Patel. Vance traveled to Minneapolis the day before the January 23 protests to deliver the message that there would be no backing down and that it was open season on opponents of ICE and the CBP (Customs and Border Protection).
Millions have now seen the video recording of the shooting. They know exactly what happened. But Trump and his cohorts brazenly respond: “Who are you going to believe? Us or your own eyes?”
As with the killing of Renée Nicole Good, the video evidence is incontrovertible. Independent analyses from multiple major media outlets have confirmed that Pretti never drew a weapon and posed no threat. In this situation, the Democrats and the media call for an “independent investigation” and more “transparency” as if there were any doubt about the fact that Pretti was murdered. This is an attempt to buy time, cover up the truth and deflect mass outrage.
The murder of Alex Pretti is a vast escalation in the paramilitary terror in Minneapolis, which is the spearhead of an ongoing conspiracy to invoke the Insurrection Act, send the military into American cities and establish a presidential dictatorship in the United States.
This is not speculation. Trump has said it over and over again. His first presidency ended in an attempted coup. In this campaign, he declared he would be a “dictator on day one.” At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland just days ago, he added, “Sometimes you need a dictator.” These are political declarations of criminal intent, and they are being carried out.
Read the rest of the Perspective here.