Alex Pretti's parents say federal government is shielding agents involved in his killing

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The parents of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti said Tuesday the federal government is shielding the immigration enforcement officers involved in their son's killing, and no one from the government has reached out with any substantive information for nine months.

Michael and Susan Pretti called for the Department of Justice to hold accountable those who shot their 37-year-old son during President Donald Trump's ramp up in deportations targeting Minnesota. Federal prosecutors disclosed in recent court filings they had stopped sharing evidence with Minnesota authorities who are investigating the January killings of Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers.

“The federal government went on TV and lied about Alex,” said Susan Pretti, his mother. “They tried to slander his memory to cover up their crime. Not only was it wrong, it was shameful."

Within moments of his Jan. 24 death, Trump administration officials sought to portray Pretti, a U.S. citizen and nurse at a veterans hospital, as an armed disruptor intent on doing harm to federal agents when he brought his own gun to a Minneapolis street where officers clashed with protesters. Kristi Noem, the then-Homeland Security secretary, painted the Veterans Administration hospital nurse as a domestic terrorist who violently resisted federal agents. Court records show he had no criminal record.

Video shot by bystanders that day showed Pretti only had a mobile phone in his hand. No footage has since emerged showing him brandishing a weapon or attacking federal agents in the moments before he was killed.

The Prettis spoke Tuesday at a news conference organized by an attorney representing the family, calling their treatment by the Trump administration “cruelty.” They said they decided to speak out after being “stonewalled” by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen.

“At every turn, they have ignored us, misled us, and shielded Alex’s killers,” said Michael Pretti, his father. “We are a family who love this country. We trust in the institutions of this country. We believe in the rule of law – and that people should be held accountable through that law.”

After months of reaching out to Rosen's office, the federal prosecutor agreed to meet with them in July. But the family and their attorney, Steve Schleicher, said that meeting raised more questions than answers, with Rosen refusing to provide even basic information about the status of the federal investigation into Pretti's death.

A spokesman for Rosen's office had no comment when reached by The Associated Press on Tuesday. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Pretti family's remarks.

Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration in March for access to materials they said they needed to independently investigate the shootings of Pretti and Good. The Trump administration has suggested that state prosecutors don’t have jurisdiction to investigate federal officers, while Minnesota officials have said they don’t trust the federal government to investigate itself.

The state is still seeking the cellphones of the officers involved in both shootings and recordings of key interviews.

Pretti's parents recounted how they first learned of his death when they were called by a reporter for The Associated Press.

“We learned about his death from the media as we saw him being shot repeatedly in the back after helping a woman from his community, a fellow Minnesotan, who had been shoved to the ground viciously,” Michael Pretti said. “No one from the federal government called us on that horrible day, but they did go on TV to tell lies about Alex. No one from the federal government has called us since.”

He said the videos of his son's killing haunt his family every day.

“I think it haunts many Americans to see a U.S. citizen who was peaceful and in his community shot multiple times on the back, in the back, while on the ground,” the father said, calling his family heartbroken.

“We wish we didn’t have to be here,” he said. “We wish Alex was alive. We wish we were simply in Minneapolis to visit with Alex. For he and I to chat about cars, hiking, biking or anything that came to our mind. This administration has taken that away from us forever.”

__

Biesecker reported from Pittsburgh.

Steven Schleicher, an attorney for the family of Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal immigration agents in January, speaks during a news conference, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Susan Pretti, mother of Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal immigration agents in January, speaks during a news conference, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Michael Pretti and Susan Pretti, parents of Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal immigration agents in January, listen during a news conference, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A bomb exploded Tuesday near a bridge that crosses Colombia's border with Venezuela, injuring at least four police officers in the Colombian city of Cucuta, officials said.

Norte de Santander provincial Gov. William Villamizar said on X that police were investigating who was responsible for the attack.

The explosion was set off in front of the local branch of Colombia's tax collection agency near the Francisco de Paula de Santander International bridge. Footage of the aftermath showed a truck and several motorcycles that were damaged by the blast.

The attack comes as Colombia’s conservative government changes the nation’s security strategy and takes a more confrontational approach towards gangs and rebel groups.

After being sworn into office in August, President Abelardo de la Espriella cancelled peace talks with the nation’s remaining rebel groups, alleging that negotiations had yielded few results over the past four years, with armed groups using ceasefires with the government to strengthen their grip over rural areas.

De la Espriella, who goes by the nickname of “the Tiger,” has also re-established joint task forces aimed at protecting oil pipelines, and promised to tackle the cocaine trade by spraying coca fields with herbicides, a practice that was suspended in 2015 over health concerns.

Early on Tuesday morning, de La Espriella supervised an operation against gangs in Medellin, in which the government said it captured 135 people suspected of trafficking drugs and running human trafficking rings. In a video shared by de La Espriella’s office Tuesday, the president scolds some of the suspects captured by police.

“The party is over,” he tells a suspect. “You will see how hard the Tiger bites.”

Critics have accused de la Espriella of using law enforcement operations for propaganda purposes, and have expressed doubts about the capacity of Colombia’s armed forces to disarm rebel groups solely through the use of force -- without eventually returning to negotiations.

In Cucuta, next to the border with Venezuela, authorities are investigating the murder of a former deputy mayor, who was assassinated on Monday night while on his way home. In September, an attack on another police station in the border city killed a civilian and injured eleven people.

According to ACLED, a group that monitors conflicts around the world, state forces and illegal armed groups carried out 34 attacks with bombs or explosives in Colombia during the four-week period that ended on Oct. 16 — a 9% increase from last year's four-week average.

The figure includes drone attacks waged by rebel groups, and attacks with explosives like the one in Cucuta, but also airstrikes launched by the nation's military on rebel camps. Laura Calderón, an ACLED analyst, said that the government has increased its use of airstrikes since August, when de la Espriella took office.

“The government is changing its strategy," Calderón said. “And the armed groups are also changing theirs.”

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Police inspect the site where a bomb exploded near the International Francisco de Paula Santander bridge border with Venezuela, in Cucuta, Colombia, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Mario Caicedo)

Police inspect the site where a bomb exploded near the International Francisco de Paula Santander bridge border with Venezuela, in Cucuta, Colombia, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Mario Caicedo)