Quiet candlelight vigils honoring Alex Pretti light street corners across Twin Cities
People in neighborhoods around the Twin Cities gathered on sidewalks, in parks and on street corners Saturday night to mark the death of another person killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, an ICU nurse who worked at the Minneapolis VA hospital, was identified as the man killed by a Border Patrol agent on the south side of the city Saturday morning. The Department of Homeland Security said the agent acted in self-defense after attempting to disarm Pretti, but Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said that account was "nonsense" after reviewing videos of the shooting.
Saturday's incident happened less than three weeks after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good and amid an ongoing surge in immigration enforcement action across the city.
Neighbors, many with small candles nestled in their hands, gathered near Summit Avenue and Lexington Parkway in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Other people gathered quietly in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis and near Lake Nokomis, as well.
A group that organized a march and rally against ICE on Friday spread the word on social media, asking people to go to their sidewalks with lighted candles.
Pretti's family said in a statement that Pretti was "a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital."