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Travis Vanden Heuvel had been following the recent news out of Minnesota for weeks. On Saturday morning, like many others, he saw video clips of the second fatal shooting by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month.
But the story became personal later that day. That afternoon, Vanden Heuvel’s former choir director reached out to tell him that the man who had been shot was Alex Pretti – a childhood friend with whom he had been in choir.
“My initial reaction was shock. With this happening, just a state away in Minnesota, it already felt close to home, and then when I found out that I knew the name of the victim, and I had memories associated with that name, it became even more real and tragic,” Vanden Heuvel said.
Now-viral footage shows Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at Minneapolis VA Medical Center, being tackled to the ground before being fatally shot by federal immigration agents. Pretti had been filming them amid a surge of federal immigration enforcement operations in the city.
After the shooting, administration officials claimed Pretti “brandished” a gun during the confrontation and attempted to characterize him as an agitator. Some senior officials even labeled him a “would-be assassin”.
But bystander videos of the encounter show Pretti holding a phone, not a firearm, and that he had been disarmed before the first shots were even fired. (State officials also said that he was licensed to carry the firearm.)
In interviews with the Guardian, and statements made online, family, friends, co-workers and former classmates remembered Pretti as kind, generous, and a good friend while also strongly denouncing the Trump administration’s assessment of his character.
Born in Illinois, Pretti grew up primarily in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He sang in choir, was a boy scout, and attended Preble High School, where he performed in musicals, and played football, baseball and ran track.
Vanden Heuvel told the Guardian that he and Pretti met through the Green Bay Boy Choir, a city wide choir program, and developed a close friendship through rehearsals, summer singing camps at the local university and choir trips.
“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Alex was his smile,” Vanden Heuvel said. “He was someone who was always very happy and energetic, he was a very kind person.”
Pretti was someone who would “always ask how you were doing or what you were up to”, Vanden Heuvel said, noting that it “didn’t surprise” him that Pretti went on to become a nurse.
Pretti “represents the best of us”, Vanden Heuvel continued. “I think he was out there that morning in an act of service and love to his community and his neighbors and the fact that there are still people in this country who are choosing not to see those facts is the most disheartening part of this entire story.”
Rory Shefchek, another childhood friend of Pretti’s, described Pretti as a “helpful, kind guy” who was “confident, diligent and respectful” and “exuded a natural coolness”.
The two were in both choir and track at Green Bay Preble high school, he said.
Shefcheck was “shocked and furious” when he learned that Pretti had been killed by federal agents and said that the shooting “very clearly appears to be an execution of a good man followed by an assassination of character publicly by ‘enforcers’ of this gross overreach”.
“This cannot be tolerated. As a society we must demand change,” he said.
JD Atkins, a former high school classmate of Pretti’s and Green Bay Boy choir member, said: “We just all really wanted to be like him.”
Atkins, who was a few years younger than Pretti, added: “He was just a generous, kind person, very, very affable and likable.”
Recalling when they took part in the same school play, Atkins said “Alex was the other lead role, and I can still remember today, running lines with him, him just taking that extra time to help me in that position.
“I can remember his hand on my shoulder backstage and him telling me, you know you’re going to be great, it’s going to be okay.”
Pretti’s parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, described their son in a public statement as “a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for”.
“Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact,” they said.
They also took aim at the Trump administration for spreading “sickening lies” about their son, calling the administration’s narrative around the shooting “reprehensible and disgusting”.
Pretti’s sister, Micayla, echoed their words, describing her brother as “incredibly intelligent and deeply passionate” and someone who “had a way of lighting up every room he walked into”.
“My brother is, and always will be, my hero,” she said in the statement.
Kaitlin McLean, a physician and coworker of Pretti’s, told the Guardian that she was devastated to hear the news about his death.
“Honestly, I sank to my knees,” McLean said. “I really wanted it not to be him.”
McLean described Pretti as “an incredible human being, an incredibly skilled nurse and an incredible person to work with”, and said that they had “grown close in the last month”.
“He was kind and generous with his time and his smiles,” she said. “And he loved coffee more than any person I’ve ever met, he was always willing to brew up a new pot with me, even if it was four o’clock in the morning. I wish that everyone who was reading about him online had the chance to meet him, because I think they’d be better for it.”
McLean also said Pretti “cared deeply for the veterans that we served” and described him as a “patriot, because he cared so deeply for this country and for the values that everyone here shares, regardless of political affiliation”.
“He never hesitated to show anyone kindness and compassion, whether that was a patient or a co-worker or a visitor or a stranger,” she said.
McLean recalled that she and Pretti had as recently as last week spoken about the aggressive immigration enforcement operations that were unfolding across Minneapolis.
“I think it’s fair to say that he was outraged,” she said, noting he felt that “it was up to all of us to not ignore what was happening”.
She added: “If you live in the city, and if you care, like Alex cared, then you can’t walk past or drive past when you see people in danger. Frankly, it’s not what we’re trained to do, he’s a helper.”
In nearly all reported and video accounts of the shooting, Pretti appeared to be trying to help a woman who had been pushed by federal agents prior to his death. McLean noted that as healthcare workers, they are “trained to put the safety of others in front of our own” before adding: “I bet in his mind, there was no hesitation about helping that woman. He didn’t have a malicious bone in his body.”
Spencer Lent, who was also in the Green Bay Boy Choir with Pretti growing up, recalled Pretti as a “helper”.
“I can’t believe something like that would happen to somebody who was just trying to help,” he said. “That’s the kind of person he was, he was a helper.”
Pretti “had a great sense of humor,” was “focused” and “really put forth all of his effort”, Lent said.
“Ever since I found out, I’ve just been kind of ebbing between sadness and anger,” he continued.
Dozens of people who knew Pretti have posted heartfelt tributes online. Friends described Pretti as “quick to smile and laugh”, someone who “had a way of making you feel like you were in it together”, and “a wonderful ICU nurse”. A former nursing student of Pretti’s said he “carried patience, compassion and calm as a steady light within him”.
Heather Zielinski, a friend of Pretti’s for more than a decade, told the Guardian that she immediately recognized him when she saw the video of the shooting online.
“I was like, that is my friend. And the darkness kind of comes over you in that moment, and then the sorrow, and then the anger,” she said. “This was not an agitator. The federal government is lying about him.”
Zielinski described him as “a really good friend”, who was “kind”, “funny”, “super intelligent” and very passionate about nature and the outdoors. She said that he would want the “world to remember how Minnesota showed up, and he’d want us to try to protect the national parks and all of the public wild land”.
She also mentioned his love of biking. On Facebook, another friend shared a photo of Pretti with his bike. “Alex Pretti, my friend and Riverwest 24 teammate,” the friend wrote, seemingly referring to the Riverwest 24 bike race in Milwaukee. “Your death will not be in vain, Alex. Fly high, dude.”
A community bike ride has been organized in Wisconsin this weekend in his memory.
Annette Neist, a neighbor of Pretti’s, remembered going for dog walks with her canine Dottie, and Pretti and his Catahoula leopard dog, Joule.
“We’d take the dogs to Lake Harriet [on] a few hot summer days to let them swim together,” Neist told the Guardian. She described Pretti as a “very kind, thoughtful, well spoken, empathetic person” who was “always smiling and quick to laugh.”
Neist said that Pretti talked about his work as a VA nurse, and “how much he loved his ‘old guys’ and how affected he was when he’d lose one of them”. When she learned he was the victim of the shooting, she said, it took her “breath away”.
She has since lit a candle and placed roses outside his home.
“He was a kind, compassionate human who cared about people and would do anything to help,” she said. “Let that be his legacy.”
