Alex Pretti's parents accuse officials of protecting those involved in his death — The Guardian

In Minneapolis, United States, the parents of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti said that federal officials are obstructing efforts to establish the circumstances of their son's death and protecting agents whom the family considers involved in his death. Michael and Susan Pretti spoke publicly for the first time on October 27 after their son's death in January, The Guardian reports.

Demand for accountability

Alex Pretti worked at a veterans' hospital. He died on January 24 after federal immigration agents fatally wounded him in a shooting. Michael Pretti accused officials of ignoring the family, misleading it, and protecting those he called his son's killers. The parents called on the US Department of Justice to hold everyone involved in Alex Pretti's death accountable.

Susan Pretti said that the federal government had spread false information about her son and tried to discredit his memory in order to conceal a crime. This is the family's position, not facts established by a court.

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Disagreements over the investigation

After the shooting, the administration of President Donald Trump described Pretti as an armed domestic terrorist and claimed that he violently resisted agents. Video footage of the incident, according to the publication, contradicts this version: it shows that Pretti was holding a mobile phone in his hand, did not display a weapon, and did not attack agents before he was shot while lying in the street.

Pretti had no criminal convictions and had a permit to carry a pistol, which was in a holster. According to The Guardian, agents removed this weapon before opening fire. The family also said that Minnesota's chief federal prosecutor, Dan Rosen, agreed to meet with them only in July but did not provide basic information about the progress of the investigation.

Minnesota representatives previously said that federal authorities had stopped sharing information with state investigators who are investigating the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good. The US Department of Justice told Reuters that communication with relatives usually takes place at later stages of a case, including after charges are filed or during court proceedings, rather than during the investigation.