‘Shameful’: Alex Pretti’s parents accuse Trump officials of shielding son’s killers

The parents of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse at a veterans hospital who died after federal immigration agents shot him in Minneapolis on 24 January, have publicly accused the Trump administration of obstructing any accounting for his death. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday for the first time, Michael and Susan Pretti urged the Department of Justice to hold those responsible to account. They said federal officials have given them nothing meaningful about the investigation, according to The Guardian.

Administration officials initially described Pretti as an armed domestic terrorist bent on hurting agents. Video of the encounter, however, shows him holding a phone, not threatening anyone, and being shot in the back while on the ground. He had no criminal record and was licensed to carry the handgun agents took from his holster. Susan Pretti said the government lied about her son to bury its own wrongdoing.

The couple said U. S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Dan Rosen, the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, offered little help; Rosen met them only in July and withheld basic details. Minnesota officials say federal authorities have stopped sharing information with state investigators, and the administration contends the state cannot investigate federal officers.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →