1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration, was shot and killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis on Saturday. He was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record who dedicated his life to caring for veterans. His death represents a catastrophic failure of federal law enforcement that demands immediate accountability and reform. Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry in Minnesota. According to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, officers believe he was exercising his legal rights when federal agents shot him during an immigration enforcement operation. The Department of Homeland Security claims Pretti "violently resisted" when officers tried to disarm him, but this justification is deeply troubling. A U.S. citizen should not be killed for possessing a firearm he was legally entitled to carry. This was the third shooting involving federal immigration officers in Minneapolis in roughly three weeks. Renee Good was killed by an ICE officer on January 7, just over a mile from where Pretti died. A Venezuelan man was shot in the leg about a week later. This pattern of violence has sparked widespread protests and prompted Governor Tim Walz to activate the Minnesota National Guard and call for an end to these operations. Pretti's family learned of his death from a reporter, not from authorities. His father Michael expressed frustration at the difficulty getting information from federal officials. This lack of transparency is unacceptable when a citizen has been killed by government agents. I urge you to demand a full independent investigation into Alex Pretti's death, support legislation requiring federal law enforcement to respect state concealed carry laws, and call for the suspension of immigration enforcement operations that have resulted in three shootings in three weeks. The federal government must be held accountable for killing a healthcare worker who served our veterans.