Statement on ICE’s killing of AFGE member Alex Jeffrey Pretti

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham made the following statement on ICE’s killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti this morning in Minneapolis:

“For the second time in less than three weeks, a Minnesotan is dead at the hands of ICE. While local authorities are still gathering information, we know that Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old Veterans Affairs Hospital ICU Nurse and member of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), is dead.

“Our hearts are with Alex’s family, friends, loved ones, our community, and his AFGE union family right now as they grieve.

“Once again, the Department of Homeland Security has rushed to share a narrative that nobody outside the department can confirm and that contradicts every publicly available video. We join the calls for a full and transparent investigation into both this killing and the killing of Renee Nicole Good.

“ICE continues to make everyone less safe, and Minnesota’s Labor Movement repeats and amplifies our call for them to leave our state immediately.

“For Minnesota’s workers of color, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, every commute to work, every trip to the grocery store, and every walk to school has become a genuine risk.

“Just yesterday, tens of thousands of Minnesotans peacefully exercised our right to free speech without incident. When ICE is involved, nonviolent protesters and legal observers are gassed, assaulted, and shot.

“’Operation Metro Surge’ is not and has never been about enforcing immigration law. This is about a President who is angry with the people of Minnesota for disagreeing with his policies and is weaponizing the federal government against us in retribution.

“Minnesota’s Labor Movement will continue to actively support and stand in solidarity with every worker who has been unlawfully detained. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Minnesotans in the face of a hostile federal government.”