On January 24, 2026, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was executed on a public street by federal agents. He was not committing a crime. He was not threatening anyone. He was holding his phone and recording what his government was doing in his city. For that action – for bearing witness, for helping a woman shoved to the ground – he was tackled, shot repeatedly in the head and back, and left bleeding on the pavement while agents poked at his body and one applauded his death.
I cannot stop watching the videos. I cannot stop crying. Because what happened to Alex Pretti is not just a tragedy. This is a warning siren that America’s democratic foundations are crumbling beneath our feet.
Alex Did Nothing Illegal
Let me be absolutely clear: Alex Pretti was exercising his constitutional rights as a U.S. citizen when he was killed.
He had every legal right to be at that protest. The First Amendment protects the act of recording law enforcement, a right affirmed by courts nationwide. He had a valid Minnesota concealed carry permit. Minnesota law does not prohibit carrying a firearm at a protest, unlike some other states. Even pro-gun organizations like Gun Owners of America have affirmed that ‘the Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting—a right the federal government must not infringe upon.’
Witness footage shows Alex holding his phone, not his weapon, in the moments before agents swarmed him. A sworn witness statement confirmed he never displayed his firearm in front of law enforcement. Yet within hours, DHS officials claimed he ‘brandished’ a gun and threatened to ‘massacre’ agents. The videos show no such thing.
The government is lying to your face and asking you to disbelieve your own eyes.
ICE Is Not Supposed to Do This
Here’s what most Americans don’t fully understand: Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not a general policing agency. Its jurisdiction is transnational crime and immigration enforcement—not patrolling American streets and confronting protesters. Courts have repeatedly held that the Tenth Amendment prohibits the federal government from compelling states and localities to participate in immigration enforcement, and that immigration enforcement is the sole duty of the federal government.
Yet the Trump administration has transformed ICE and Border Patrol into a domestic paramilitary force, surging agents into ‘blue’ cities like Minneapolis under the guise of ‘restoring order.’ These agents operate outside normal accountability structures. When Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension attempted to investigate Renee Good’s killing, the FBI disinvited them. Same experience with the killing of Alex Pretti. Federal authorities have taken control of both investigations and are preventing state investigators from accessing evidence.
This is not law enforcement. This is occupation.
Renee Good: The First Warning Some Ignored
Alex Pretti was the second U.S. citizen killed by federal forces in Minneapolis this month.
Just 17 days earlier, Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot dead by ICE agent Jonathan Ross while sitting in her car. Newly released footage shows Renee calmly telling Ross, ‘I’m not mad at you,’ right before he shot her. Her wife Becca later said: ‘We had whistles. They had guns.’
The administration’s response? Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem immediately accused Renee of ‘domestic terrorism,’ claiming she ‘weaponized her vehicle.’ No investigation. No due process. Just instant character assassination of a dead mother.
Over 1,000 ‘ICE Out For Good’ protests erupted nationwide. Tens of thousands marched in Minneapolis. And two weeks later, the same federal forces killed again.
The Lies They Tell
The administration’s propaganda machine springs into action the moment one of their agents kills. The pattern is now unmistakable.
With Renee Good, Trump alleged she ‘violently ran’ at the agent with her vehicle. Video footage contradicted that claim.
With Alex Pretti, DHS claimed he approached agents ‘while allegedly possessing’ a handgun and ‘violently resisted’ arrest. But the videos show him holding a phone, being tackled while trying to help an assaulted woman, and being shot while restrained on the ground.
Now DHS is floating that an ‘accidental discharge’ of Alex’s own gun, fired by the agent who took it from him, may have caused other agents to believe ‘they were being fired upon.’ This is not an explanation. This is an admission of catastrophic incompetence being dressed up as justification for murder.
Secretary Noem said the agent fired ‘fearing for his life.’ Fearing what? A man pinned face-down by five agents?
The Conservative Hypocrisy
I have watched the discourse unfold with a mixture of rage and despair. The same conservatives who spent decades championing the Second Amendment, you know the ones who told us an armed citizenry is the last defense against tyranny, are now making excuses for government agents executing a legal gun owner.
The excuses I’ve seen:
- ‘He put his hands on the agent.’ (He was helping a woman who had been assaulted and trying to protect her from being pepper sprayed in the face.)
- ‘He shouldn’t have brought a gun to a protest.’ (He had a legal permit. Minnesota allows it. The Second Amendment protects it.)
- ‘He reached for his gun.’ (Not one single video shows this, and witness statements contradict it.)
- ‘Those crazy protestors caused this.’ (Blaming victims for their own murder is a time-honored authoritarian tradition.)
Where are the ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flags now? Where is the outrage over government agents killing a law-abiding citizen exercising his constitutional rights?
The silence tells you everything. For too many, the Second Amendment was never about rights, it was only about power. And when that power is wielded against people they disagree with, suddenly due process and constitutional carry don’t matter anymore.
This Is What Democratic Collapse Looks Like
Rights organizations including Amnesty International are warning that the United States is exhibiting ‘clear signs of democratic backsliding, marked by the erosion of civil liberties, weakened rule of law, and the normalization of coercive state power.’
The Century Foundation’s new Democracy Meter found that ‘America took an authoritarian turn in 2025.’ Researchers have documented over 500 protest crackdowns since 2025, with troops stationed in cities and the administration ignoring federal court rulings it finds inconvenient. One analysis describes the nation as ‘on a trajectory toward competitive authoritarianism.’
This is not hyperbole. This is pattern recognition.
When federal agents can execute citizens on camera, lie about it, block state investigations, and face zero consequences you are no longer living in a functioning democracy. You are living in the early stages of something much darker.
What Happens Now?
Alex Pretti will never return to his patients at the VA. He will never again help a veteran in need. A man who devoted his life to caring for others was gunned down for the crime of compassion.
With the removal of Greg Bovino, Tom Homan is now being sent to Minnesota. The administration is regrouping and doubling down. They are not retreating. They are not reflecting. They are sending more force.
We cannot look away. We cannot let them gaslight us into accepting this as normal. Every video must be shared. Every lie must be documented. Every victim must be named and remembered.
Alex Pretti. Renee Good. American citizens. Murdered by their own government.
This is the country we live in now. The question is whether we will fight to get it back.
Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Record everything.
Citizen's Quill 
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