The Trump administration described Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old intensive care nurse killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis on Saturday, as a “terrorist.” The reality, as seen on multiple videos taken of the incident, shows the opposite. It was the federal officers who acted as agents of state terror, while Pretti demonstrated extraordinary bravery in the final moments of his life as he tried to protect the most vulnerable in his community. Although the American right is obsessed with reviving "masculinity," its vilification of Pretti demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of its meaning. It was Pretti, in fact, who served as a model of the courageous male “protector.”
Pretti was speaking to and video-recording Border Patrol officers as they conducted an immigration detention, and he intervened when an officer shoved a woman to the ground. But he did not intervene by acting violently; rather, he appeared to attempt to shield the woman with his body. He was immediately pepper-sprayed, then several agents grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground. Video footage shows an agent striking Pretti repeatedly with a tear gas canister and an agent removing a firearm from his belt before Pretti was shot several times.
Pretti’s final act in life was to try to intervene on behalf of a woman who appeared to be in danger. He, of course, knew that immigration agents in the city had at times acted viciously, and had recently killed a protester, but he stepped in anyway. That took guts. And he paid with his life.
This was just the tip of the iceberg in Pretti’s commitment to acting as a guardian.
This is a preview of Zeeshan Aleem’s latest column. Read the full column here.
