Since federal agents fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday in Minneapolis, the social media platform X has been flooded with right-wing misinformation about the man. That’s not surprising, given that They are trying to sully Pretti’s life and legacy. And it just doesn’t work.
Pretti, by all accounts, was an exceptional human being who cared about his community. He was an intensive care nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Minneapolis and a legal gun owner with no criminal record. Pretti was a man whose image is difficult to tarnish. But disinformation agents are doing their best to make this happen.
Take, for example, the claim on X that Pretti was fired three months ago from the hospital where he worked. Screenshots of what appears to be a news article have spread, while reading“Hospital Director Speaks Out: Former Employee Alex Pretti Was Fired Three Months Ago Amid Multiple Complaints of Inappropriate Behavior.”
Where does this supposed article come from? It appears on a website called BuzzReport247 It just sucks. The article includes photos that purport to show Pretti in a dress, but it’s clearly not him, racking up over 1.2 million views as of this writing. And the article itself falsely claims he committed “evil acts towards vulnerable people being treated at the hospital.” This goes on and on, making false claims that aren’t even worth repeating here. This is bullshit and it’s completely fabricated.
Honestly, this is one of the laziest, silliest hits we’ve ever seen. However, some people on X seem to believe it to be true. And there are no community notes as of this writing that point out to users that this makes no sense. The other articles on BuzzReport247 are clearly AI slop with ridiculous headlines like: “THE OLD JANITOR THEY MOCKED: How a $64 million Apache helicopter, a dirty mop and a pair of hidden wings revealed the arrogance of a captain who thought he knew everything, only to be crushed by the legend standing right in front of him in a hangar full of silence and shame.”
It’s quite a mouthful. This is just the bottom line of misinformation and bait for low-information voters.
Another post on X with over 3 million views from an account called Donnie Cope claims Pretti’s parents said their son left his job at the hospital and exhibited unusual behavior. The source of these claims appears to be a Facebook page titled “Man’s stuff” which also contains a quote supposedly from Pretti’s father about how he recently joined a radical group. But it’s also complete bullshit. Nothing in this post is true.
In reality, Pretti’s parents were supportive of their son and are heartbroken by his death at the hands of Trump’s secret police.
“Alex was a kind soul who cared deeply for his family and friends as well as the American veterans he cared for as an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis, Virginia, hospital,” his parents’ statement said, according to CBS News. “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be here to witness his impact. I do not take the term hero lightly. However, his last thought and last act was to protect a woman.”
“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the statement continued. “Alex is clearly not holding a gun when he is attacked by Trump’s murderers and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman who ICE just pushed down while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
The sickening lies they reference include statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who called Pretti a domestic terrorist and claimed he wanted to “massacre” federal agents. The DHS statements, apparently directed by Stephen Milleralso tried to insist that Pretti had arrived brandishing a gun. That’s simply not true, according to the half-dozen videos viewed in which Pretti never draws his gun. There is also no mention of Pretti attacking any officers or firing his gun into the DHS initial report on the shooting, according to NBC News.
Another tweet, clearly inspired by misinformation spread Tuesday on X, attempted to insist that he had joined a left-wing group to inflict violence on ICE.
“We have now learned that Alex Pretti was NOT a nurse or a bystander. He left his job months ago to join an Antifa cell and was involved in a violent confrontation with ICE a week prior,” Trump ally Mike Crispi tweeted. bed.
“That’s why we should NEVER give an inch on these issues. It’s the same story EVERY time once the facts are out,” Crispi continued.
The “violent confrontation” actually refers to an incident first reported by CNN on Tuesday that Pretti had a rib broken by ICE. week before his death. The circumstances are very similar to what happened the day he was killed, where he inflicted no violence but was beaten by federal agents. But these facts haven’t stopped the right from talking bullshit on social media trying to undermine the character of a dead man.
It’s not just about Noem and social media. Right-wing media outlets like Fox News spread the idea that Pretti did not have his ID on him when he was killed in the street. They point out that even if he had a permit to carry his firearm, Minnesota permit holders are required to have their ID on them when doing so. For starters, we just have to take DHS’s word for the idea that Pretti didn’t have his ID, and they lie all the time. Pretti’s gun was also not properly secured as evidence, according to a new report submitted to Congress on Tuesday. But even if Pretti didn’t have his ID at the time, do gun rights advocates really want to argue that it’s legal to murder a gun owner for that reason?
Alex Pretti was violently beaten and then shot by at least two masked federal agents for a simple recording on a public road. There is no evidence that he did anything other than try to help a woman off the ground who had been violently assaulted by a federal agent. Then he paid with his life when these agents shot at least ten shots three people hit him in the back, according to a doctor present at the scene.
Pretti was a VA nurse who was shot in the back for trying to save his neighbors from ICE. And he is constantly slandered. Fortunately, this doesn’t seem to work on most people. But it remains to be seen whether this change in atmosphere will lead to positive changes on the ground. Two Republicans, Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, became their party’s first call for the resignation of Kristi Noem Tuesday. And the polls don’t look good for Trump’s efforts.
Forty-four percent of Americans support abolishing ICE, compared to just 41 percent who oppose it, according to one report. YouGov survey starting Saturday, the day Pretti was killed. It’s a safe bet that such a poll would be even more unfavorable to ICE today, after a few days of learning.
The federal occupation of Minneapolis continues and ICE’s reign of terror continues in cities that receive very little attention right now. But honest people across the country should be cautiously optimistic that things are changing. Renee Good and Alex Pretti are martyrs, but Minneapolis residents have proven themselves capable of standing up to Trump’s henchmen to keep their community safe. The tide seems to be turning and the bad guys are in retreat.
