Thousands attend vigils at VAs across the country after Alex Pretti's death

In the week since Border Patrol officers killed Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, vigils around the country have celebrated Pretti’s work and denounced ICE's tactics.

Thousands gathered outside the Manhattan VA hospital, filling the sidewalk between massive snowbanks. And hundreds of Pretti’s colleagues at Minneapolis VA held a vigil earlier this week, despite an email from that VA’s director saying she had been told to postpone it.

Trump administration officials have blamed Pretti’s death on Minnesota officials for failing to cooperate with ICE and initially claiming that Pretti had attacked officers or threatening them with a weapon. According to a preliminary review of the incident by the government, however, Customs and Border Protection officers said Pretti resisted arrest before two officers shot him, an assessment that more closely aligns with multiple bystander videos and witness testimony of the incident.

On Friday, the Justice Department announced it had opened a civil rights investigation into Pretti's death. The investigation is being led by the FBI, but it is also coordinating with the DOJ's civil rights division and the Department of Homeland Security.

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