EXCLUSIVE — ICU Nurse “Executed” by Federal Immigration Agents in Minneapolis — Death Officially Ruled a HOMICIDE as Homeland Security Orders Body Cameras After Outrage

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal medical examiner has now formally ruled the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse and protester Alex Pretti a homicide, sparking renewed fury and intensifying outrage over the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement tactics.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office announced Monday that Pretti’s death on January 24 was caused by multiple gunshot wounds inflicted by law enforcement officers — a technical classification that means his death was caused by someone else, but does not itself conclude whether criminal charges should follow.

Pretti — an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs medical center and lifelong Minnesota resident — was shot on a chilly winter morning in downtown Minneapolis during protests against a sweeping federal immigration enforcement operation.

Chaotic Scene, Conflicting Accounts

According to federal officials, Pretti approached armed Homeland Security agents with a gun and resisted their attempt to disarm him. Those claims were initially echoed by top administration officials, who painted Pretti as a domestic terrorist. The White House later sought to distance President Trump from these assertions as public scrutiny intensified.

But multiple videos captured by bystanders — some of which have circulated widely online — tell a sharply different story. Rather than posing a threat, these clips show Pretti holding only a cellphone moments before he was shoved, pepper-sprayed and thrown to the pavement by several agents. One officer can clearly be seen removing a firearm from Pretti’s waistband before any shots were fired, contradicting claims that he had brandished a weapon.

Witnesses said Pretti was attempting to help another protester who had been pushed to the ground, not escalating violence. The incident quickly spiraled into chaos, with agents firing at least a dozen rounds at Pretti while he was pinned on the street.

Political and Public Blowback

The homicide ruling has only fueled anger from local leaders and rights advocates who have blasted the federal response as heavy-handed and unjustified.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz labeled the killing “horrific” and demanded state authorities be allowed to lead an independent investigation, rejecting the federal narrative. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey similarly urged President Trump to withdraw federal immigration agents from the city, warning that the presence of armed agents had eroded trust in law enforcement and heightened tensions.

Across the nation, celebrities and gun-rights groups joined the chorus of criticism, condemning both the use of lethal force and what many see as a misleading narrative from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

At least one federal judge weighed in on related legal disputes, lifting an order that had temporarily barred DHS from destroying evidence tied to the Pretti shooting after federal and local authorities clashed over access to the scene and the handling of materials.

Body Camera Order After Two Fatal Shootings

In an abrupt policy shift triggered by the controversy, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that every Homeland Security officer in Minneapolis will be issued a body-worn camera — including agents from Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — in a bid to appease critics and bolster transparency.

“We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country,” Noem wrote on social media, pledging that the Minneapolis rollout is just the beginning. The Trump administration says the move is designed to promote accountability and “ensure the American people can see what really happened.”

President Trump publicly supported the initiative, saying body cameras are “generally good for law enforcement” because they reduce misinformation — but emphasized that the decision for the Minneapolis rollout was Noem’s.

Federal officials note that several Customs and Border Protection officers who responded to the Pretti incident were already wearing body cameras, but footage has not yet been made public. No details have been released on whether any ICE officers at the scene had cameras, especially in a separate deadly encounter days earlier.

The body-camera directive comes on the heels of two separate fatal shootings by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis within weeks: along with Pretti, 37-year-old mother of three Renée Good was also shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7. Both deaths have sparked nationwide protests and demands for accountability.

Justice Dept. Civil Rights Investigation Underway

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a civil rights probe into the Pretti shooting, a rare federal review that could lead to criminal charges if wrongdoing is found. The FBI and DOJ Civil Rights Division are reportedly leading the inquiry, although investigations of officer-involved shootings can move slowly and rarely result in prosecution.

Local authorities are also pursuing their own examination of the events surrounding the shooting — a dual path that could pit state and federal findings against each other.

Legacy of a Protest and a Life Cut Short

Friends and family remember Pretti as a compassionate healthcare worker who cared deeply for his community. His death — on a street in the city he called home — has become a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration enforcement and the use of deadly force by federal agents.

Whether the homicide ruling will translate into criminal accountability for the officers involved remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: the Minneapolis incident has reignited fierce discussion over civil liberties, federal power, and the public’s right to know what really happened the morning Alex Pretti was shot dead.