Fwd: Alex Pretti's life and death in Minneapolis - a vegan - engaged??
Maynard S. Clark
"He met Heather Zielinski around that time. He was vegan, she said, dating a woman whom he married... They would hang out, and Pretti would play music."
Maynard
Alex Pretti's life and death in Minneapolis. 'A genuine person'
Jay StahlJean Trebus' dad was a Vietnam War veteran and in the throes of metastic prostate cancer when his family first met Alex Pretti.
He was admitted to the Minneapolis VA Medical Center on Dec. 8, 2023, and Pretti became his nurse for a weeklong stint when he was moved to the ICU, his daughter said. He died Jan. 6, 2024.
"He was patient. He answered all of our questions. He was a genuine person, and it was obvious that he truly cared about what we were going through," Jean Trebus recalled about Pretti to USA TODAY over Facebook messenger.
Other family members of Pretti's patients and friends are now remembering a man they called a "good person." Pretti died Jan. 24, when he was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on a sundrenched but subzero Saturday morning in Minneapolis.
The shooting came as he confronted federal agents in the city as part of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement operation. Federal officials alleged Pretti was carrying a gun he intended to use to "kill law enforcement." Videos from bystanders − and a witness account in court filings − do not show Pretti brandishing a weapon when he approached agents.
'Never had a bad interaction'
Pretti was raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin, an industrial city, home to the NFL's Packers, that sits at the mouth of the Fox River. He was in the Green Bay Boy Choir, among other youth activities. As a young man, he acted with the Preble Players Theatre, a performing arts group at Green Bay Preble High School.
Chris DiSalvi met Pretti in geometry class their sophomore year at Preble. They soon became close buddies, joking in class, eating out and going to the movies. They graduated from Preble in 2006.
Both young men attended the University of Minnesota Twin Cities after high school. They went their own ways by their sophomore year.
"People go different directions," DiSalvi said, adding that he "never had a bad interaction" with Pretti. There was no falling out. Just growing up.
DiSalvi became a high school teacher. Pretti's family told the Associated Press he graduated from Minnesota in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment.
He met Heather Zielinski around that time. He was vegan, she said, dating a woman whom he married. Zielinski was going through a divorce. They would hang out, and Pretti would play music.
Who is Alex Pretti? What we know about the man killed by Border Patrol"I like intelligent people and he was just, he liked food and I was a chef at the time," Zielinski said. "He was doing research with the VA, like medical research, and he was just a good person."
'He was as compassionate a person as you could be'
Pretti then returned to school to become a registered nurse, according to the AP, and by the winter of 2023, he was caring for Trebus' father in the VA.
Jean Trebus was leaving the hospital one night when she asked Pretti for the number to check on her dad. He handed her a business card with the unit phone numbers. She carries the card on the back of her phone to this day.
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"I'm happy that I held onto it," Trebus wrote to USA TODAY. The family nominated Pretti for a DAISY Award, which celebrates nurses for excellence in care.
Nearly a year after Trebus' dad died, Pretti cared for Mac Randolph's father, Terry Randolph, during the last days of his life at the Minneapolis VA.
"He spent three, four days in the ICU and explained everything that would happen when they turned off the oxygen," Randolph recalled to the Minnesota Star Tribune. "He was as compassionate a person as you could be." The elder Randolph died Dec. 10, 2024.
A bearded and balding Pretti pushed the Air Force veteran during a walk of honor as he was covered in an American flag. "You could see that it wasn't the first time he had done that," Randolph told the Star Tribune.
A video of the moment shared by Randolph is going viral. Other videos went viral, too: The footage of Pretti before his death.
Kristi Noem alleges Pretti 'committed an act of domestic terrorism"
Jan. 24 was a frosty start to the weekend in Minneapolis, one day after thousands marched through its city streets to protest the tactics ICE and Border Patrol agents are using in the city. Videos from bystanders show Pretti approaching officers with his phone. Pretti appears, in one video, to intervene after an agent shoves a person.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters Saturday that Pretti "committed an act of domestic terrorism." He "came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation," Noem said.
She said the semiautomatic handgun and two magazines Pretti carried indicated he intended to "inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement." Pretti, though, had a permit for his firearm.
The shooting took place after immigration authorities in the city fatally shot Renee Nicole Macklin Good, 37, on Jan. 7. Administration officials have criticized leaders in Minnesota over a large fraud scandal that officials say is linked to a group of Somali immigrants.
'Counting his bullet wounds.' Witness details Pretti killing in court filingFive years after the death of George Floyd and just over two weeks after Good's death in Minneapolis, a divided country is trying to make sense of another loss of life on a Midwestern street.
'We're not scared of each other'
The last time Zielinski saw Pretti, they went to Gigi's Cafe, a brunch spot in the trendy South Uptown neighborhood. They texted for the last time in November. Pretti was planning a bike trip through Colorado.
Then it was Saturday morning, and his death dominated the headlines. "He was a good person," she said. After the shooting, she drove to pick up her college-aged daughter and her daughter's friend. Zielinski's daughter goes to college a couple blocks away from where Pretti was killed.
The streets were blockaded by police, she said. People were walking all around her. "They were so calm and so peaceful, and my fear melted away because they're not going there to be violent," Zielinski said. "They're going there to be a voice."
"There were Black people, there were White people, there were Native American people, there were Hispanic people," she said. "Every color of person you could possibly imagine."
Zielinski picked up her daughter.
"There was pepper spray and ICE agents and her friend got locked in Glam Doll Donuts for an hour," she said, referring to the popular donut shop near the site of the shooting.
"That's what people are scared of. We're not scared of each other," Zielinski said. "People can have different opinions. This is America. But those agents brought terror and death to this community today."
An hour before midnight Saturday, onlooker Layne Russell said that there were still drums and neighbors walking around outside. Minnesotans, and Americans, are awaiting what may arrive next on Sunday.
Businesses to shut down as part of 'ICE Out of Minnesota' protestAnd next week, DiSalvi will head to Robbinsdale Cooper High School to teach students in New Hope, a nearby suburb about 11 miles away from where Pretti died. He will talk about his own friend from high school. He will tell those in his classroom that he cares about them. To show up for others. To look after each other.
"I want them to be kind to each other and to care for each other and try to make the world a better place," DiSalvi said. To live "kind of like Alex did."
Contributing: Michael Loria, Natalie Neysa Alund