A fundraiser that declares Pretti an ‘American Hero’ has now been set up to support Pretti’s loved ones.
With a target of $20,000, the page has now received over $1.5 million in donations, including $10,000 from billionaire Bill Ackman, which his reps confirmed to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday evening (January 25).
He also confirmed over on X in a response to a tweet asking for his donation, to which he replied: “Done. That said, I don’t agree with the GoFundMe that he is an American hero, but his loss is tragic for him and his family.”
Ackman had previously donated $10,000 to a GoFundMe for Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot Good.The billionaire wrote that he had also intended to support Good’s loved ones, but the fundraiser had already closed as ‘it had achieved its $1.5 million fundraising objective’.
He previously said: “I was simply continuing my longstanding commitment to assisting those accused of crimes of providing for their defense.”
Following mounting backlash over Pretti’s death, President Donald Trump recently took to Truth Social, where he said he’d had a ‘very good call’ with the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, adding that they are on the ‘same wavelength’ on the situation.
In a statement, Walz’s office explained: “The president agreed that he would talk to his Department of Homeland Security about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case.
“The president also agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals.”
The family of an anti-ICE protestor have spoken out after he was fatally shot at the weekend.
ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, was killed in the middle of the street on Saturday (24 January) in Minneapolis, just weeks after the death of Renee Good, who was shot in her car by an ICE agent.
The Department of Homeland Security has said that federal immigration agents fired shots in a move of self defence, claiming Pretti had a handgun at the time.
Witnesses, family members, and even footage of the incident, have challenged this account, however, claiming he did not have a gun in his hand, but his phone instead.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the BBC: “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.
“Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.”Now, Pretti’s family have spoken out, describing him as an outdoorsman who ‘cared deeply’ about other people.
“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Pretti’s father, Michael Pretti.
“He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”
Michael added: “We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically.
“And he said he knows that. He knew that.”
Protestors have been gathering since Pretti’s death (Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Protestors have been gathering since Pretti’s death (Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Pretti had no criminal convictions, with his family noting he had never had any interactions with the police.
However, Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino has since claimed that Pretti was trying to ‘massacre law enforcement’.
But Pretti’s family have urged others to ‘help get the truth out about our son’.
They said: “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs.”
The family claim that Pretti’s hands were visible and he had been trying to protect a woman standing nearby.On Truth Social, President Donald Trump shared a photo of a handgun, writing: “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go – What is that all about?
“Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off?
“It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do!”
