01/25/2026
Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc. stands with the family and community of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a Minneapolis VA nurse and lawful gun owner who was shot and killed by federal agents during an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota.[1][2][3][4][5]
Justice for Alex Pretti
Alex was a 37-year-old intensive care nurse who dedicated his life to serving veterans and had no criminal record beyond minor tickets, yet he was killed in his own community by federal officers. Minneapolis officials and his family have confirmed that he lawfully possessed a handgun and had a valid permit to carry, making any attempt to use his lawful gun ownership as a blanket justification for his killing both despicable and a violation of fundamental constitutional principles. Video and reporting already raise serious questions about whether he had been disarmed before shots were fired, underscoring the need for immediate, independent investigation and accountability.[2][3][4][5][1]
Corruption and attacks on democracy
This tragedy is not an isolated event; it is a direct result of a corrupt immigration and policing agenda being driven out of the Trump administration and carried by officials like Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and their Republican allies who have normalized constitutional violations in the name of “enforcement.” Our own governor, Ron DeSantis, has consistently aligned himself with these same policies and power structures, choosing political loyalty over the rule of law and the safety of our communities. Allowing a man convicted on 34 felony counts to occupy the White House while his party defends him at every turn shows how far Republican leadership is willing to go to test, bend, and break the guardrails of this democracy.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
ICE, secrecy, and constitutional violations
Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc. is fully aware that Republican political leaders have been endorsing and defending constitutional violations committed by ICE and other federal enforcement agencies. Federal courts have repeatedly recognized that immigration enforcement is still bound by the Fourth Amendment and cannot be justified by broad racial or ethnic “profiles,” dragnet raids, or warrantless home entries that ignore basic protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. When ICE and Border Patrol agents conceal their badges, wear masks, and refuse to clearly identify their agency while engaging in arrests and crowd control, they create a public safety crisis that strips people of the ability to know who is detaining them, to verify the legality of an arrest, or to seek legal recourse afterward.[10][11][13][14][15][16][6]
These tactics—masked, unidentified agents in our streets, detainers and raids without proper warrants, and race-based stops—undermine due process and equal protection and are exactly the kinds of patterns federal courts have flagged as incompatible with the Constitution. Our community has the right to know who is exercising government power over us and to insist that even federal agents are accountable to the same Constitution they swear to uphold.[11][13][14][15][16][10]
Message to other Black organizations
To our fellow Black organizations who say, “This is not our fight” because the targets today are so-called “illegal immigrants,” we ask: who do you think this government will come for next once it finishes weaponizing these tools against migrants? History and present-day practice show that when the state is allowed to trample the rights of any marginalized group, those same tactics are soon turned against Black communities, protesters, and anyone who dares dissent. By staying silent or distancing ourselves now, we are helping to build the very machinery that will be used on us later.[16][10][11]
Our stance on rights and accountability
Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc. is not only a civil rights organization; we are also a **Second** Amendment association that believes in the preservation of constitutional rights for all people, including the right of law-abiding residents to lawfully possess and carry fi****ms without being executed in the street by the government. The fact that federal agents are trying to spin Alex Pretti’s lawful firearm as a post-hoc excuse for killing him proves how dangerous it is to let this government decide whose rights are “real” and whose lives are disposable.[3][4][1]
We demand:
- A full, independent investigation into the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti and immediate public release of all video and reports.
- An end to masked and unidentifiable federal deployments in our communities and clear, enforceable identification requirements for all officers engaging in arrests or crowd control.[15][10]
- Strict limits and judicial oversight on ICE and Border Patrol operations, consistent with U.S. Supreme Court and federal precedent that protects against unreasonable seizures and race-based immigration enforcement.[13][14][11][16]
- Real accountability for the Trump administration, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Ron DeSantis, and every official who has encouraged or defended these abuses.[7][6][11]
Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc. will not stand by while this government erodes the Constitution, targets our communities, and tries to intimidate us into silence. We stand for Black lives, immigrant lives, and the full protection of every constitutional right—for all of us, or for none of us.
