The union that represents employees of the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center is speaking out about the death of one of its own members.
AFGE Local 3669, a chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, called the death of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti “tragic and senseless” and said it is “especially disappointed” with U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins’ reaction, according to a statement released Monday.
Pretti, 37, was shot several times and killed by federal immigration officers on Saturday in South Minneapolis.
Videos quickly emerged showing the fatal shooting that has been widely denounced as a case of excessive force. The administration, however, rushed to characterize it as a case of an armed man provoking violence.
“Alex was a son, a colleague, and a fellow union brother, not an ‘assassin’ or a ‘domestic terrorist,’” the union said in its statement. “We are especially disappointed with VA Secretary Doug Collins, who chose to use the murder of his own employee to push partisan, political narratives.”
U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images North America/TNS)
One day after the killing, Collins posted a statement from his official secretary account that appears to place blame on local officials.
“We can confirm Alex Pretti was a nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. As President Trump has said, nobody wants to see chaos and death in American cities, and we send our condolences to the Pretti family,” he wrote on X. “Such tragedies are unfortunately happening in Minnesota because of state and local officials’ refusal to cooperate with the federal government to enforce the law and deport dangerous illegal criminals.”
Minnesota law enforcement officials dispute Collins’ characterization. The state Department of Corrections and some counties have longstanding policies to turn over undocumented immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after they complete local jail or prison terms.
At the Dakota County jail, for instance, ICE placed roughly 80 detainers last year, said Sheriff Joe Leko. Dakota County doesn’t have a formal detainer agreement with ICE, but “every single one, ICE was notified of their release and I can recall dozens and dozens of times of agents waiting there” to pick them up, Leko told the Pioneer Press last week.
A Pioneer Press request for comment from Collins’ office was not immediately returned.
A member of the Republican party and a native of Gainesville, Ga., Collins has served in the Georgia House of Representatives and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He also pastored Chicopee Baptist Church for 11 years and served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and U.S. Navy Reserve.
Collins, who is the author of “The Clock and the Calendar: A Front-Row Look at the Democrats’ Obsession with Donald Trump,” was sworn in as secretary on Feb. 5, 2025.
Pretti’s family has since spoken out, decrying statements made about their son from the Trump administration.
“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” his family said in a statement. They added that videos showed Pretti was not holding a gun when he was tackled by federal agents, but holding his phone with one hand and using the other to shield a woman who was being pepper-sprayed.
“Alex died while protecting a woman and exercising his First and Second Amendment rights,” the union said. “He was dedicated to caring for veterans and treated them with decency and respect, sometimes in their final moments – which is the exact opposite of how he was treated during his.”
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A chapter of the largest federal employee union that represents 820,000 workers, AFGE Local 3669 represents more than one thousand employees at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The union’s letter goes on to call for “a full, transparent, independent third-party investigation” into Pretti’s killing and implores Congress to “come to solutions on immigration policy to ensure that this type of tragedy never happens again.”
A GoFundMe to support Pretti’s loved ones tallied more than $1.5 million in donations as of Tuesday. The fundraiser can be found at http://pipr.es/3J5DxCN.
“Alex was the best of us and he will be dearly missed,” the union’s letter concludes. “Rest in power, brother.”
This report contains information from The Associated Press.
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