Was Alex Jeffrey Pretti, Minneapolis nurse illegally shot dead by federal agents? A rapidly unfolding scene has led to questions of state violence at the hands of federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security as agents sought to arrest illegal immigrants, leading to a fatal confrontation as a local nurse recorded skirmishes only to be shot dead.
Friends and colleagues of a Minneapolis man caught on video being fatally shot at the hands of federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security, along with commentators on social media allege the 37-year-old being ‘executed’ as he sought to protect a female protester who was being pepper sprayed by descending agents.
Alex Pretti family demand DHS stop lying about their son, ‘he was a hero!’
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was killed shortly after 9am Saturday near Glam Doll Donuts at 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue, after an altercation involving multiple federal officers.
Responding to the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security in a release stated that they were in the area attempting to apprehend ‘an illegal alien wanted for ‘violent assault’ when they were approached by Pretti.
Federal authorities identified the man they were initially seeking as Jose Huerta‑Chuma, an Ecuadorian national.
Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino said Huerta‑Chuma has a criminal history that includes domestic assault, disorderly conduct and driving without a license, though federal court records did not list any cases under his name.
Alex Jeffrey Pretti new video angle raises troubling questions
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— Gurpreet Garry Walia (@garrywalia_) January 25, 2026
Videos contradicts DHS claims Alex Pretti was a threat
According to DHS, Pretti was (legally) armed and carrying two magazines at the time of the ensuing struggle. The agency later released a photograph of a nine‑millimeter semi‑automatic handgun it said was recovered during the clash.
Officials claimed officers attempted to disarm Pretti but that he ‘violently resisted’ before a Border Patrol agent fired the fatal shot. Pretti was pronounced dead at the scene. Video from the scene shows agents wrestling with Pretti and taking him to the ground moments before the shooting.
Leading up to Pretti being swarmed by agents, the registered nurse had interceded between agents who were pepper spraying a female protester only to then get caught up in the unfolding scene and swarmed by descending agents.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Pretti had no serious criminal history, with records showing only minor parking violations. O’Hara added that he was a lawful gun owner with a valid permit.
Was Alex Pretti, Minneapolis nurse ‘executed’ by federal agents?
Border Patrol chief defends fatal shooting of Minneapolis nurse
Pretti worked as a registered nurse for the Veterans Health Administration at the Minneapolis VA hospital and earned a reported $90,783 in 2023, according to public records.
Records also show he attended the University of Minnesota and most recently listed himself as a ‘junior scientist’ on LinkedIn.
Those who worked alongside him said his death has been devastating.
‘I worked with him daily for years at the VA hospital,’ Ruth Anway, a Minneapolis‑based nurse, told the Daily Mail. ‘He was an ICU nurse. He worked with veterans. He was a really good guy. He definitely did not deserve to get killed.’
Anway said she worked with Pretti for about six years and also collaborated with him earlier in his career while he was in nursing school, including on a research study at the VA.
‘As a friend who just saw my friend get killed, I just want to say he was a good guy,’ she told the outlet. Anway last saw Pretti a few months ago.
Minneapolis nurse was politically engaged
She described him as politically engaged and deeply informed.
‘He was always keeping up with the news and always just really well informed about what was going on,’ she said. ‘We would always talk about everything going on in the world.’She said Pretti strongly believed in political activism and standing up for what he saw as injustice, adding that she believed those convictions explained why he was at the scene on Saturday.
‘I just know he was there because he felt conviction,’ she said.
Anway also described Minneapolis as feeling ‘really weird right now,’ amid heightened immigration enforcement.
‘I sort of thought that living in a 1938 German sort of environment would be a bit more apparent,’ she said. ‘Yet I live in this very white neighborhood that hasn’t seen a lot of ICE. It’s strange because I’m not personally affected – except I’m seeing things in the news that are deeply upsetting.’
‘I know people who have been deported. People who are making plans to leave, even though they’re here legally. That does not feel like America to me,’ she added.
Pretti had been living in Minneapolis but also had ties to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Colorado.
The shooting marks the third recent incident involving federal agents in Minneapolis. It follows the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a US citizen, on January 7, and another incident in which a federal agent wounded a man about a week later.
Saturday’s shooting sparked immediate protests, with bystanders yelling profanities at federal officers and telling them to leave the city.
Minneapolis has faced rising tensions amid the federal enforcement presence and ongoing protests – a backdrop shaped by prior high‑profile police killings, including the death of George Floyd in 2020.
