Chicagoans hold memorial for Alex Pretti outside Jesse Brown VA Hospital
Outside of the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center on Tuesday, veterans, union workers, medical professionals, and many other Chicagoans built a memorial for Alex Pretti, the Minnesota man shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last week.
Pretti was an intensive care nurse who worked at the Minneapolis VA hospital as a member of the American Federation of Government Employees labor union.
"This hits so close to home, because we work with people like Alex in the hospital every single day," said Dr. Andrew Wilbur, a third-year internal medicine resident at Northwestern McGaw Medical Center in downtown Chicago. "It's even more devastating to see somebody who cares so much about taking care of our veterans and our country killed by that very country."
On Tuesday, Pretti's supporters marched around the Jesse Brown VA Hospital, providing an audible and visible display of the pain over his death.
"We are here as veterans to honor Alex's life of care for us, specifically, as veterans. As a nurse at a VA hospital, he was taking care of us," said Navy veteran Daniel Lakemacher.
Pretti 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.
"I think what's happening is that the war is being brought into our streets. You know, we finally got out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and Trump wants to ratchet it up in our own streets," Army veteran Ken Nielsen said.
Veterans like Nielsen and Lakemacher called for an end to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and an end to the violence they see unfolding on city streets.
"The U.S. pretends to be against tyrannical governments imposing warfare tactics on their people but that is what is happening in the streets of America today. As veterans, we recognize that, we call it out, and we say no more," Lakemacher said.
Veterans were joined by healthcare workers who serve as Pretti did.
"I was working at the VA on Saturday when I heard that Alex Pretti was killed. I, as well as everyone else, was shocked," Wilbur said.. "ICU nurses are a very special breed. They have very strong relationships with their patients; and always, always communicate with the physicians and the families whenever anything goes wrong. They're the cornerstone of the hospital."
Amid news that now-former Border Patrol Commander at Large Gregory Bovino – who spent a great deal of time in Chicago leading Operation Midway Blitz before later moving on to other cities, including most recently in Minneapolis – has been relieved of his role, the consensus at the vigil for Pretti was that change by the Trump administration is not enough.
Concerns continue over whether federal immigration agents will return to the Chicago area in force this spring.
"We cannot just simply leave it to protests that just react to the egregious and the harmful and deadly actions coming from the Trump administration," Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
At a joint meeting of the City Council Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Committee on Police and Fire, aldermen approved an ordinance authorizing the city's Civilian Office of Police Accountability to investigate complaints that Chicago police violated the Welcoming City Ordinance by collaborating with federal immigration agents. COPA already investigates allegations of police misconduct and police shootings in Chicago.
The Welcoming City Ordinance prohibits police officers from cooperating with federal immigration agents in cases that do not involve a valid criminal warrant.
COPA officials have said they have received 11 complaints about possible violations, but some aldermen have said it is unclear whether COPA or the city's inspector general has jurisdiction over such complaints.
The full Chicago City Council could take up the proposal to have COPA investigate those complaints at its next meeting in February.
Meantime, there are many planned protests this week near VA hospitals across the country to pay tribute to Pretti.
