Alex Pretti Should Be Alive
Minnesota shut it down Friday and by Saturday morning a VA ICU nurse was murdered after a federal shooting.
📌 NOTE FOR NEW READERS:
The 50501 Movement organizes peaceful action across all 50 states to defend democracy. This publication is over 85,000 subscribers strong and growing. If this resonates with you and to support this publication, hit subscribe!
TL;DR: Minnesota’s Friday blackout was an incredible display of civic power. Minneapolis and communities across the state showed us that solidarity is practical, visible, and economically meaningful. The next morning, federal agents killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA. His family says officials are spreading “sickening lies.” A GoFundMe has surged to nearly $700,000 in about a day. If you’re furious, good. Turn that anger into protection, accountability, and support for the people the system is failing.
Collective Action, Operationalized
Minnesota’s Friday economic blackout was a coordinated interruption of day to day activities, demonstrated to show a community refusing to cooperate with what it believes is illegitimate force.
In Minneapolis, an estimated 50,000 people turned out across the city and the Target Center, where more than 10,000 gathered indoors to escape temperatures that reportedly fell to around -20°F.
The action extended beyond marches: hundreds of businesses closed in solidarity, and faith leaders joined in visible, organized resistance, including a demonstration at Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport that resulted in about 100 clergy members being arrested.
In a single day, Minnesota demonstrated incredible civic power. Structured, disciplined, and shared.
Then the next morning, ICE violence continued
The next morning, Minneapolis woke up to another irreversible outcome.
Alex Pretti should be alive today.
Alex was 37. An ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA, spending his life caring for veterans and saving people in their most fragile moments.
He was killed on a Minneapolis street by federal agents during Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Now his parents are left carrying grief and an additional cruelty: official claims about their son that they’ve described as “sickening lies.” Whatever a person believes politically, this is the line that should be non-negotiable: when the state uses deadly force, the public deserves the truth, and families deserve dignity. We watched sickening lies being spread shortly after Renee’s death and they are doing the same thing to protect and defend ICE agents when they’re obviously violating the law.
Our Anger Is Rational, Direct It.
Within hours, the community came together to support Alex and his loved ones.
A GoFundMe titled “Alex Pretti is an American Hero” has already raised nearly $700,000 in about a day, with roughly 18,500 people donating.
The organizer also pushed to make Alex’s father the beneficiary, so the family has direct access to the funds.
Alex’s GoFundMe can be found by clicking here.
And if you’re furious, majority of us are too, and that anger is rational and tells us we still recognize what’s intolerable.
Outrage with direction becomes protection. It becomes support for the family, pressure for public truth, and a refusal to let this administration try to change reality after violence has been done. Keep demanding accountability.
This Is How We Protect Each Other
Solidarity is the willingness to take on inconvenience, risk, and cost so that someone else doesn’t face violence alone.
When unchecked power escalates, it doesn’t stop on its own.
We will keep protecting each other. We will keep names alive.
We demand accountability and we will continue to seek justice for the lives taken and destroyed at the hands of these ICE agents, Trump, and his administration.
ABC News published a minute-by-minute reconstruction of the fatal encounter involving Alex Pretti, built from five verified videos.
The footage shows Pretti on Nicollet Avenue recording federal agents with his phone for several minutes before any shots were fired.
In the early moments, an officer approaches, pepper spray appears, and Pretti is pushed back toward the sidewalk, an interaction that is less like an immediate threat and more like a rapidly tightening perimeter around people who were watching and filming.
As the scene continues, the videos show officers pushing civilians and shouting warnings about people being forced into traffic.
Pretti remains in the frame with his phone raised, and then, in a quick sequence, he is pushed and pepper-sprayed.
ABC includes analysis from a former senior DHS official who interprets Pretti’s posture at that moment: hand raised, body reacting, as signaling or reflex rather than aggression.
The footage then shows Pretti stumbling, being pulled into the street by his clothing, and ending up on the ground with multiple officers on top of him.
The most consequential moments come seconds later.
ABC’s timeline shows an officer drawing a handgun, and then almost immediately an agent appears to remove a firearm from Pretti’s waist.
The first shot is recorded at roughly 9:01:14 a.m., and ABC reports that 10 shots were fired in under five seconds, based on forensic audio analysis referenced in the report.
ABC also cites a doctor’s affidavit describing multiple gunshot wounds, including at least three in Pretti’s back, and notes that shortly after the shooting an officer is heard saying, “I got the gun.”
If Alex intervened because someone nearby was being shoved to the ground, what does that tell you about what kind of person he was and what kind of moment this was? If an officer is heard saying “I got the gun” after the shooting, what does that suggest about how officers understood the threat?
If you want to help shape what comes next, visit fiftyfifty.one/poll. Your answers help guide national priorities, messaging, and where we put energy next. And we really need your support right now more than ever. This administration is escalating, fast.
Go here: fiftyfifty.one/poll
Coming Up: February 17th, National Day of Lobbying for the impeachment, conviction, and removal of Donald Trump and his regime.
We’re joining and supporting FLARE and Citizens Impeachment in organizing in all 435 congressional districts to show up at local Representatives’ offices and demand impeachment, conviction, and removal of Donald Trump and his administration. Reps will be in-district, and FLARE USA & Citizens’ Impeachment & 50501 will be providing a lobbying toolkit and follow-up guidance.
Sign up to organize here: tinyurl.com/lobby217.
Sources
ABC News | Minute-by-minute timeline of Alex Pretti’s killing (built from five verified videos)
CNN | Updates on ICE activity & Minnesota actions (Jan. 23, 2026)
Reuters | Minnesota governor says federal agents involved in Minneapolis shooting (Jan. 24, 2026)
Washington Post | video analysis showing agents secured a gun before the fatal shots
The Guardian | Minnesota economic blackout coverage + clergy arrests at MSP airport
DO YOU WANT TO STOP A U.S. CIVIL WAR? T
HIS MAY BE YOUR LAST CHANCE TO DO SO.
A massive general strike is the next logical step. Trump is running a criminal enterprise. His dregs of society Gestapo wanna- be goon squads are executing Americans in cold blood. Your reaction cannot be, “But how will it work? Will others join? I can’t afford it.” Right now, after all the evidence we have seen in Trump’s first year, everyone should see the writing on the wall. America has been hijacked by agents of chaos. The regime is a willing partner with Putin and other authoritarian leaders around the world. Trump is on a rampage to destroy, rape and pillage at home and abroad. He has always been the same person, fuelled by greed and criminal instincts, that convince him that he alone is deserving of whatever he desires. He has always been a felon, a racist, a bigot and a selfish prick, whose first and last concern is himself. He managed to amass his varying groups of followers by pandering to their differing offensive mandates. He unified his rabid base because he promised to deliver to each group, despite the fact that their very varied ideals will eventually force them to battle amongst themselves. In reality, Trump is a charlatan. He is the ultimate con man, and he will end up betraying even those aligned with his convoluted policies over time. How can the Christian zealots supporting Israel not see that the Nazis will come for them eventually. How can the broligarchs enriching Trump not see that his nature will demand that he comes for their power and wealth. They are all blinded by the mirage of pending victory, with the useful idiot President’s charade, of appeasing them, to achieve his own agenda of complete dominance. Trump doesn’t give a flying fuck about any of his supporters causes or beliefs. He wants to be King of more than America, and he wants to name the heir to his stolen throne, to continue his legacy. You may be thinking that the battle for democracy and your basic rights has been difficult thus far. You may be thinking you are exhausted and depressed by the overwhelming barrage of daily indignities and assaults on your liberties. That is understandable. But understand this: The fight has just begun. You need to dig deep in your resolve and realize that surrender is not an option, unless you want to be merely enslaved by the demented dictator and his corrupt accomplices. The only force that might possibly correct this aberration in power is you. You must be willing to suffer the discomfort of an extended strike, which may last weeks or months, if you wish to eliminate the possibility of living under authoritarian rule for decades to come. As of today, there is no more normal. There is only a crazed psychopath wielding indiscriminate power to subjugate America and beyond. Only you can alter that course. You can use whatever motivational disgust you need to enrage yourself, be it the execution of innocent protesters, the inhumane treatment of immigrants, the destruction of healthcare, the attacking of allies, the disregard for veterans, or the coverup of the Trumpstein files, but there has to be one collective goal and demand. Donald Trump and his criminally corrupt cabinet and the complicit politicians who allow the atrocities to continue, must be removed from power. Period. Complete regime change is the only acceptable outcome, and you must be prepared to fight for that goal with every ounce of resolve you can muster. Sitting back and praying for a correction in the midterms is a fool’s gambit. The emergency is NOW!
Can 50501 please call for a general strike that does not expire in a day? A sustained strike will get results. We can support persons who cannot afford to walk off the job via Go Fund Me. Some vetting would be needed because scammers are pervasive.
So please plan a strike that lasts, for example, 10 days. It should be done ASAP. You have the platform. Please help us avoid the civil war that the Nazis want.