Prayer vigil to be held in Chicago for Alex Pretti, man shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol in Minneapolis
The deadly shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis has reignited questions about the federal use of force in Chicago in recent months.
Labor, faith and community groups were set to gather for a vigil for Pretti on Tuesday, in the latest show of support around the country.
The 37-year-old Pretti, an intensive care nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs, was killed Saturday around 9 a.m. local time in south Minneapolis.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed the agent acted in self-defense while trying to disarm Pretti, but local officials pushed back on the account and condemned the ongoing federal immigration surge in their city. Bystander video showed Pretti holding a cellphone, not a gun, ahead of the shooting.
The Chicago prayer vigil for Pretti will be held at noon Tuesday at the Intersection of Damen Avenue and Taylor Street on the Near West Side, outside the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Representatives of several unions and community groups are expected to attend, including National Nurses United, SEIU Healthcare, the Chicago Teachers Union, and the UIC Residents Union. Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter is also expected to attend.
Meanwhile, a woman shot by a federal agent in Chicago back in the fall is now pushing to get a video of that incident released. Marimar Martinez said the government's version of events is the only one the public has seen.
On Oct. 5, 2025, federal agents shot Martinez five times in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood during Operation Midway Blitz. She is now asking a federal judge to allow the release of evidence in the case, including body camera footage.
Her attorney said a standard protective order is now preventing the public from seeing how federal agents use deadly force. Several media outlets have gone to court seeking access to the video and other evidence.
Citing the recent "executions" of Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minnesota, Martinez's lawyer argues the evidence in her case should be made public to shed light on how the Department of Homeland Security "responds in cases where their agents use deadly force against U.S. citizens."
The filing states Martinez was "compelled" to request the release of the evidence from her case "in order to defend herself from a regrettable and unyielding tide of misinformation from the federal government regarding her case."
Federal prosecutors have yet to decide if the protective order will be released.
In November, U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis dismissed an indictment against Martinez and her co-defendant, Anthoni Ian Santos Ruiz, after federal prosecutors sought to drop the case. The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot refile them in the future.