{"id":560341,"date":"2026-02-02T06:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/560341\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T06:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:25:09","slug":"alex-pretti-vigils-held-in-chicago-area-week-after-va-nurse-shot-killed-by-federal-agents-in-minneapolis-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/560341\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Pretti vigils held in Chicago area week after VA nurse shot, killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (WLS) — Park Ridge, Illinois native Alex Pretti<\/a> was a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital. He was was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents last weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during ongoing immigration operations there.<\/p>\n

Vigils were held Sunday night in the Chicago area for Pretti, including one at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital in the west suburbs.<\/p>\n

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24\/7. Click here to watch<\/a><\/p>\n

Demonstrators say the rallies are about honoring a hero and standing for Pretti is about standing on the right side of history.<\/p>\n

“If you want to know why we’re here, it’s to honor a man who history is going to remember as a hero. But it’s also to stand up and be counted in this moment,” Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter said.<\/p>\n

In the days since Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis last weekend, the cracks in the nation’s political divide over this administration’s federal immigration enforcement were laid bare as a labor and civil rights movement galvanized more voices and volume.<\/p>\n

“In this moment where people at the very top, people at the very top are pitting Americans against each other,” Reiter said.<\/p>\n

Pretti worked as an intensive care unit nurse for the Minneapolis VA health care system and was part of American Federation of Government Employees.<\/p>\n

Sunday night, Pretti’s fellow Chicagoland union members joined other labor leaders and health care workers at different VA Hospitals to pay him tribute and heed others to pay attention.<\/p>\n

“When I hear Alex last words, ‘Are you okay?’ said to a woman who had just been pushed down by ICE, I hear the care that VA workers carry,” retired VA nurse Cornelia Cole said.<\/p>\n

RELATED |<\/strong> Minneapolis live updates: DOJ launches investigation into Pretti killing, Deputy AG Blanche says<\/a><\/p>\n

“We are talking about someone who is engaging in his First Amendment right to speak up and protect our immigrant communities,” Reiter said. “And he paid the ultimate price.”<\/p>\n

Demonstrators outside of the Hines VA Hospital held up signs with Pretti’s photo, chanting his name as supporters driving by honked to echo their call.<\/p>\n

People there said the rallies are not just about remembering why Pretti was, but they are about remembering the freedoms they say he died trying to protect.<\/p>\n

“This is not the America that we grew up in,” Village of Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskin said. “We have a constitution in this country and we expect our law enforcement to act consistently with those constitutional norms.”<\/p>\n

“The people killed by ICE did not choose to be martyrs, but instead their lives have been stolen,” Cole said. “We will honor their memories by continuing to fight for a better world.”<\/p>\n

The Justice Department announced days ago there will be a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting and killing of Pretti.
<\/p>\n

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