Jan 24

Jan 24 Alex Jeffrey Pretti

Demonstrations, Chicago, Donald J. Trump, Performance, Parades, Protest, Public Declarations

Today, at 9:05 AM in Minneapolis, U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti at the intersection of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue. Many questions remain unanswered as of tonight.

At the outset, I should note that the U.S. Immigration Control and Enforcement (“ICE”) and U.S. Border Patrol are two separate entities within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Traditionally, the U.S. Border Patrol’s jurisdiction has been limited to locales within 100 miles of the U.S. border. Under Donald J. Trump’s Administration, the distinction between the two entities has been blurred, with both operating in tandem.

I first learned of the the shooting while covering Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef’s demonstration against “ICE” in Grant Park at 11:00 AM—two people attended that demonstration. The Rabbi mentioned the shooting without yet knowing who had been shot or whether anyone had died.

Looking at my phone shortly after the Rabbi headed home, I saw an email (carrying a 10:51 AM timestamp) from Indivisible Chicago’s Kevin Naglich, announcing an emergency rally at 3:00 PM today at the Illinois Centennial Monument Column in Logan Square. Despite the extreme cold, I attended the rally and subsequent march, but before heading to Logan Square from Grant Park, I first stopped at the gym for a workout, followed by lunch. My gym is a few blocks from the Blue Line Grand/Milwaukee station, which meant I could largely avoid the cold weather while in transit to Logan Square.

First Things First. Repeatedly checking my iPhone for updates about the shooting, I had two recurring reactions. First, I was once again disgusted (a daily, if not hourly occurrence) by the Trump Administration. Second, I viewed the victim (still nameless at the time) as a stupid idiot, an admittedly blunt and harsh assessment. Who brings a gun to a demonstration, particularly in Minneapolis where the Border Patrol agents are out in force, carry military-style assault weapons, and are amped up on Trump’s never-ending bilge? It certainly was not for self-defense against the 2,000 to 3,000 U.S. Border Patrol agents currently in the Minneapolis area. A single civilian who decided to strike out at those agents would be met with overwhelming firepower, resulting in his death instantaneously.

Most demonstrations I attend are peaceful, but they can turn volatile in an instant for any number of reasons: Counter protesters may provoke the demonstrators; the police might be heavy-handed; or some demonstrators may seek a confrontation with the authorities. Given those possibilities, I hope no one is carrying a gun at any demonstration that I attend. Even though the gun owner has no intention of using the weapon, he might be pushed or shoved through no fault of his own, resulting in the gun discharging.

Let me be clear, I am not blaming Pretti. The Border Patrol agents who shot him had free agency. Based on the civilian videos that have surfaced and eyewitness accounts, Pretti was holding a cellphone, not a gun at the time the U.S. Border Patrol agents pepper-sprayed him and then took him to the ground. Pretti may have been short on good judgment, but that is not a capital offense. Most of us would long ago be dead if an occasional lapse in judgment warranted the death penalty.

So far, everyone has assumed that Pretti was a demonstrator. Even that is not clear to me. Yes, he was seen in the street shortly before the shooting seemingly directing traffic and videoing Border Patrol agents, but that does not necessarily mean he was a demonstrator. I frequently see passersby stopping to capture video during rallies and marches. Everybody records everything these days.

Bonfire of the Vanities. Sadly, Tom Wolfe, the purveyor of the New Journalism, died in 2018. If he were still alive, he would have a field day with today’s tragedy. The killing of Pretti could easily serve as fodder for another Bonfire of Vanities, Wolfe’s 1987 fictional take on wealth, racism, and class in New York City. Like the traffic accident in Wolfe’s novel, Pretti’s killing reveals what is happening just below society’s often fragile surface.

Within hours of the killing, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller—a guy who spent much of his time in high school stuffed inside a locker—referred to Pretti as an “assassin.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti was “brandishing” a gun. Adding fuel to the fire, Department of Homeland Security Chief Gregory Bovino observed in a social media post that it “looks like he wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

Yet, immediately before his killing, Pretti was not holding a gun, let alone pointing it in the direction of the Border Patrol agents. The videos and eyewitness accounts refute the Trump Administration’s accusations. So far the armchair digital sleuths have not uncovered any information suggesting that Pretti had chosen today for martyrdom. No social media posts, no online manifestos.

Donald J. Trump has repeatedly told his base that he will not allow “them” to take away “your Second Amendment.” On February 7, 2025, Trump issued Executive Order 14206, “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.” The Trump Administration’s rush to judgment undermines that executive order. Pretti was simply exercising the rights that Trump believed warranted protection. How does that alone make Pretti an assassin?

As for Trump’s MAGA base, they should be up in arms over Miller’s verbiage. Is every Trump acolyte who lawfully carries a gun now an “assassin?” Of course not, but hypocrisy is writ large.

The Border Patrol agents were carrying out operations to eject Somali and Hispanic undocumented migrants from the country, so MAGA willingly suspends disbelief, slavishly believing everything Trump officials say. In the Age of Trump, the Right believes the government can do no wrong if Trump authorizes the action. Yet, when the people who are shot lean Right, as was the case in August 1992 during the Ruby Ridge standoff and the April 1993 Waco siege involving David Koresh and his Branch Davidians religious cult, the Rights goes ballistic.

The Left is no better, quickly amplifying reports that Pretti had a permit for the pistol he was carrying while also noting that Minnesota is an open-carry state. If much of the Left had their druthers, handguns would be outlawed, but given the circumstances surrounding Pretti’s killing, the Left is uncharacteristically championing the Second Amendment. Perhaps of greater significance, those on the Left assume Pretti’s motives for packing heat were benign. Given what has already been revealed about Pretti, in all likelihood, he intended nobody harm. Yet the question persists: Why did he bring a handgun to a demonstration? What is clear is that everyone on both sides has jumped to conclusions, using argumentation that runs counter to their normal positions.

Despite my reservations about reaching conclusions prematurely, based on the videos that have already surfaced, Pretti’s killing has all the appearances of a cold-blooded murder. No facts have yet emerged suggesting that Pretti was intent on mass murder. Nevertheless, Pretti’s killing demands a thorough and impartial investigation, followed by a report.

Long before that investigation is completed, the Trump Administration must demilitarize Minneapolis’s streets. The public largely supports deporting undocumented migrants who have committed violent crimes, but public opinion does not support the heavy-handed and violent tactics that Trump has unleashed and that Bovino, Miller, and Noem have unwaveringly defended.

Rally and March at Logan Square. I arrived at the Illinois Centennial Monument Column in Logan Square about 15 minutes before the rally’s 3:00 PM start time. Given the abysmal attendance at Rabbi Michael’s earlier demonstration, I was pleased to see 10 to 15 demonstrators gathered near the column—I came with very low expectations given the cold and short notice. The lead organizer and a Chicago Police Department officer were conferring about logistics.

Shortly before the rally began, I did a quick headcount, determining that 80 people were present. With each passing minute, the crowd grew as demonstrators streamed into the plaza surrounding the column. Midway through the march, I ran into a fellow photographer, asking him, “Think it’s over 500?” He responded, “Absolutely.” With the temperatures hovering around 0° Fahrenheit (without accounting for windchill) at “gametime,” over 500 demonstrators is a very impressive number, particularly because the rally had been announced just four hours earlier.

Wisely, the organizers kept the program short, probably no more than 30 minutes. The speakers included several Cook Commissioners and other local politicians. The group then marched, first circling the monument, and then heading south on Kedzie Boulevard, until they reached West Fullerton Avenue. After marching several blocks eastward, the marchers turned left onto Sacramento. Once they reached Milwaukee Avenue, they headed west, until they returned to the Illinois Centennial Monument Column. At that point, in a show of solidarity, the marchers stood in front of the column and along the sides of the adjacent plaza. Everyone headed home after one organizer announced that there would be a demonstration at the Congress Plaza, located near the southern end of Grant Park, tomorrow. The event lasted exactly one hour, which everyone must have appreciated given the extreme cold.

Big Trouble for the Trump Administration. As the marchers made their journey, motorists caught in the snarled traffic honked their car horns, signaling support for the marchers. I had never heard so much honking during a march.

From a strategic and public relations standpoint, Trump and his cabinet should rethink their pugilistic strategy. The fact that over 500 people turned out on such short notice is a good indicator that the public is fed up with Trump’s bullying ways and his administration’s Orwellian mischaracterizations of the facts. To the extent lawyers are involved in carrying out Trump’s orders, they should be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the appropriate state agencies that regulate lawyer licensing.

The Trump Administration is undermining public confidence in the U.S. Justice Department and FBI. Officials are too quick to spin events to fit a stock narrative. In the Pretti case, facts are already emerging that U.S. Bureau Patrol agents engaged in spoliation of critical evidence. According to reports, those agents tampered with the crime scene rather than securing it and preserving evidence.

Minnesota officials have already indicated that they plan a separate and independent investigation. Undoubtedly, the Trump Administration will do everything in its power to impede that investigation; something that will only infuriate large segments of the public.

With the midterm elections now just 10 months away, Republicans in Congress would be well advised to demand accountability from the Trump Administration. No one should be surprised if the Democrats are joined by at least some Republicans in denying the U.S. Border Patrol and ICE funding until reforms are implemented.

Photographing the Event. I will readily concede that my images from the rally and march are not up to par. I cannot operate a camera in gloves, so my bare fingers were burning from the cold. I found myself trying to make one settings adjustment after another, only to hit the wrong menu item or button. At some point, I threw in the towel, shooting with the settings that I had already dialed in. The important thing was to document what was happening.

[Postscript: On Sunday, video emerged showing Pretti on the ground, very much alive, as a border patrol agent removed the pistol from Pretti’s clothing. Seconds after Pretti was disarmed, a Border Patrol agent fired his weapon. Once Pretti was motionless, one or more agents fired multiple additional rounds into Pretti’s body. Also, the facts are now clear—Pretti was present as a demonstrator, not as a passerby.]

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]