An Update from the President of Americans Against Gun Violence

January 27, 2026

On January 24, 2026, a little more than two weeks after a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ICE agent shot and killed 37 year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis, DHS Border Patrol officers shot and killed 37 year-old Alex Pretti. Like Renee Good, Alex Pretti was a U.S. citizen who was attempting to protect fellow Minneapolis residents at the scene of an ICE raid when he was shot and killed by Border Patrol officers. And as they did in the case of the killing of Renee Good, Trump administration officials reacted immediately to the killing of Alex Pretti by vilifying him[i] and claiming that the Border Patrol officers who killed him were acting in self-defense.[ii]

Just like case of the Renee Good killing, though, the cell phone videos and eye witness accounts that are already publicly available clearly demonstrate that the Trump administration is lying. Moreover, the videos of the killing of Alex Pretti, like the videos of the killing of Renee Good about a mile away on January 7, 2026, and like the videos of the killing of George Floyd about another mile away on May 25, 2020, are sickening and damning. Pretti was forcibly restrained by multiple Border Patrol officers and entirely defenseless when they shot him approximately 10 times.[iii]

Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder by a Minnesota state jury for killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nine minutes while Floyd was pinned to the ground.[iv] He was also prosecuted by the federal government for violating George Floyd’s constitutional right to be free from the use of excessive force by federal agents.[v] So far, Jonathon Ross, the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good as she was trying to drive her SUV away from him, hasn’t been charged with any state or federal crime; and the identities of the Border Patrol officers who repeatedly shot Alex Pretti haven’t yet been released.[vi]

Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse who worked at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Hospital. His parents described him as “a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for
.”[vii] A senior physician at the VA hospital described Pretti as “a good, kind person who lived to help.”

Pretti was reported by Trump administration officials to have had a handgun in his possession at the time that he was accosted and wrestled to the ground by ICE agents. Pretti’s family said he had a license to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota.[viii] Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino claimed that the fact that Pretti was carrying a handgun demonstrated that he “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”[ix] An analysis by CNN and the New York Times of the multiple cell phone videos of the incident that are currently available, though, didn’t find any evidence that Pretti ever brandished his handgun or physically threatened Border Patrol officers in any other way.[x] On the contrary, the first time that Border Patrol officers became aware that he had a handgun tucked into his trousers appears to have been after they had already pinned him to the ground. Cell phone videos also show that one officer had already taken the gun away from Pretti prior to the other officers shooting him.[xi]

The fact that the Trump administration is using the allegation that Pretti was carrying a handgun as an excuse for Border Patrol officers to shoot and kill him, combined with the fact that Pretti was never even able draw his gun to protect himself, emphasizes the point that I made in my earlier Americans Against Gun Violence president’s message concerning the killing of Renee Good that carrying a gun is not going to protect you against a tyrannical government.[xii] On the contrary, agents of the tyrannical government may use your gun as an excuse to kill you.

I concluded my previous rather lengthy message about the killing of Renee Good with a number of specific “action items”[xiii] that I suggested that we all take in order to not only stop the Trump administration’s use of ICE raids as a means of punishing Trump’s political opponents, but to stop other aspects of Trump’s fascist agenda. I won’t repeat all those suggestions in this update, but they basically boil down to communicating our outrage to our elected officials and to remaining engaged in public protests and other pro-active efforts to protect immigrant communities. Also, keep your cell phone – not a gun – with you at all times, well-charged and with plenty of available memory.

There is a tiny bit of good news coming out of Minneapolis to suggest that public outrage is having an effect. It’s been announced that some DHS agents will be leaving Minnesota “imminently.”[xiv] It’s obviously not enough, though, to just get ICE and Border Patrol agents out of Minnesota. We need to completely dismantle what has been aptly described as “Trump’s Gestapo” and to re-establish the rule of law and adherence to constitutional and moral principles in every aspect of our federal government.

I believe that the quotation that I ended my previous message about the Renee Good killing with is worth repeating. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, delivered a speech in Capetown, South Africa in June of 1966 in which he said:

Each time a [person] stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, [that person] sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.[xv]

Thanks for your support of Americans Against Gun Violence. And thanks for continuing to create “ripples.”

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Bill Durston, M.D.

President, Americans Against Gun Violence

Note: Click on this link for a downloadable version of this update in PDF format.

References

[i] DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that Pretti “attacked” officers and was “brandishing” a gun; White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents” and JD Vance reposted this claim; and Border Control commander Gregory Bovino claimed that Pretti “assaulted federal officers.” Daniel Dale, “What Trump Officials Claimed about Alex Pretti — and What the Evidence Actually Shows,” CNN Politics, January 25, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/politics/trump-officials-shifting-rhetoric-alex-pretti.

[ii] Maria Ramirez Uribe, “Fact-Check: Trump Officials’ Alex Pretti Claims vs. Video,” @politifact, accessed January 27, 2026, https://www.politifact.com/article/2026/jan/26/fact-check-Trump-official-Noem-Alex-Pretti-death/.

[iii] Curt Devine et al., “Video, Witnesses Shed New Light on Moments before Agents Fatally Shot Alex Pretti,” CNN, January 26, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/us/alex-pretti-shooting-minneapolis-videos-witnesses-invs.

[iv] Tim Arango et al., “Derek Chauvin Is Found Guilty of Murdering George Floyd.,” U.S., The New York Times, April 20, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/us/chauvin-guilty-murder-george-floyd.html.

[v] “Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin Sentenced to More Than 20 Years in Prison for Depriving George Floyd and a Minor Victim of Their Constitutional Rights,” U.S. Department of Justice Archives, July 7, 2022, https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/former-minneapolis-police-officer-derek-chauvin-sentenced-more-20-years-prison-depriving.

[vi] Julia Ainsley and Daniel Arkin, “Alex Pretti’s Killing Was Recorded on Body-Camera Videos, DHS Says,” NBC News, January 26, 2026, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dhs-says-body-worn-camera-video-fatal-shooting-alex-pretti-rcna255978.

[vii] Jeff Winter and Rob Kuzinia, “Alex Pretti Was an ICU Nurse Dedicated to Helping Others, Friends and Family Said,” CNN, January 25, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/24/us/alex-pretti-minneapolis-ice-shooting-invs.

[viii] Michael Biesecker et al., “The Man Killed by a US Border Patrol Officer in Minneapolis Was an ICU Nurse, Family Says,” AP News, January 24, 2026, https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-protester-alex-pretti-15ade7de6e19cb0291734e85dac763dc.

[ix] Devine et al., “Video, Witnesses Shed New Light on Moments before Agents Fatally Shot Alex Pretti.”

[x] Mark Scheffler, “How The New York Times Investigated Videos of ICE Agents Killing Alex Pretti,” Times Insider, The New York Times, January 26, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/insider/minneapolis-ice-shooting-videos-investigation.html; Devine et al., “Video, Witnesses Shed New Light on Moments before Agents Fatally Shot Alex Pretti”; Bora Erden et al., “Timeline: A Moment-by-Moment Look at the Shooting of Alex Pretti,” U.S., The New York Times, January 25, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/24/us/minneapolis-shooting-alex-pretti-timeline.html.

[xi] Erden et al., “Timeline.”

[xii] Bill Durston, “Will and ICE Agent Get Away With Murder in Minneapolis? And Can We Save Our Democracy?,” Americans Against Gun Violence President’s Message, January 21, 2025, https://aagunv.org/president-message/.

[xiii] Durston, “Will and ICE Agent Get Away With Murder in Minneapolis? And Can We Save Our Democracy?,” 15–17.

[xiv] Katie Wermus, “ICE in Minnesota: Bovino, Border Patrol Agents to Leave Minnesota ‘Imminently,’” Text.Article, FOX 9, FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, January 26, 2026, https://www.fox9.com/news/ice-mn-updates-jan-26-2026.

[xv] Robert F. Kennedy, “Day of Affirmation Address, University of Capetown, Capetown, South Africa, June 6, 1966,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy/robert-f-kennedy-speeches/day-of-affirmation-address-university-of-capetown-capetown-south-africa-june-6-1966.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Bill Durston, M.D.

President, Americans Against Gun Violence

Click on this link for a fully referenced version of this update in PDF format.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

[i] Maria Ramirez Uribe, “Fact-Check: Trump Officials’ Alex Pretti Claims vs. Video,” @politifact, accessed January 27, 2026, https://www.politifact.com/article/2026/jan/26/fact-check-Trump-official-Noem-Alex-Pretti-death/.

[ii] Curt Devine et al., “Video, Witnesses Shed New Light on Moments before Agents Fatally Shot Alex Pretti,” CNN, January 26, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/us/alex-pretti-shooting-minneapolis-videos-witnesses-invs.

[iii] Tim Arango et al., “Derek Chauvin Is Found Guilty of Murdering George Floyd.,” U.S., The New York Times, April 20, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/us/chauvin-guilty-murder-george-floyd.html.

[iv] “Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin Sentenced to More Than 20 Years in Prison for Depriving George Floyd and a Minor Victim of Their Constitutional Rights,” U.S. Department of Justice Archives, July 7, 2022, https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/former-minneapolis-police-officer-derek-chauvin-sentenced-more-20-years-prison-depriving.

[v] Julia Ainsley and Daniel Arkin, “Alex Pretti’s Killing Was Recorded on Body-Camera Videos, DHS Says,” NBC News, January 26, 2026, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dhs-says-body-worn-camera-video-fatal-shooting-alex-pretti-rcna255978.

[vi] Jeff Winter and Rob Kuzinia, “Alex Pretti Was an ICU Nurse Dedicated to Helping Others, Friends and Family Said,” CNN, January 25, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/24/us/alex-pretti-minneapolis-ice-shooting-invs.

[vii] Michael Biesecker et al., “The Man Killed by a US Border Patrol Officer in Minneapolis Was an ICU Nurse, Family Says,” AP News, January 24, 2026, https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-protester-alex-pretti-15ade7de6e19cb0291734e85dac763dc.

[viii] Devine et al., “Video, Witnesses Shed New Light on Moments before Agents Fatally Shot Alex Pretti.”

[ix] Mark Scheffler, “How The New York Times Investigated Videos of ICE Agents Killing Alex Pretti,” Times Insider, The New York Times, January 26, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/insider/minneapolis-ice-shooting-videos-investigation.html; Devine et al., “Video, Witnesses Shed New Light on Moments before Agents Fatally Shot Alex Pretti”; Bora Erden et al., “Timeline: A Moment-by-Moment Look at the Shooting of Alex Pretti,” U.S., The New York Times, January 25, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/24/us/minneapolis-shooting-alex-pretti-timeline.html.

[x] Erden et al., “Timeline.”

[xi] Bill Durston, “Will and ICE Agent Get Away With Murder in Minneapolis? And Can We Save Our Democracy?,” Americans Against Gun Violence President’s Message, January 21, 2025, https://aagunv.org/president-message/.

[xii] Durston, “Will and ICE Agent Get Away With Murder in Minneapolis? And Can We Save Our Democracy?,” 15–17.

[xiii] Katie Wermus, “ICE in Minnesota: Bovino, Border Patrol Agents to Leave Minnesota ‘Imminently,’” Text.Article, FOX 9, FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, January 26, 2026, https://www.fox9.com/news/ice-mn-updates-jan-26-2026.

[xiv] Robert F. Kennedy, “Day of Affirmation Address, University of Capetown, Capetown, South Africa, June 6, 1966,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy/robert-f-kennedy-speeches/day-of-affirmation-address-university-of-capetown-capetown-south-africa-june-6-1966.