Federal union leaders are calling for an independent investigation as one of their members lost his life protesting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
On Saturday, Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents after he came to the aid of a fellow protester and was wrestled to the ground, according to video recordings of the incident. Pretti was a federal employee who worked at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and was a member of American Federation of Government Employees Local 3669.
AFGE is the country’s biggest union for federal workers, representing staff at several agencies, including the Veterans Affairs Department as well as EPA and the Energy and Interior departments.
“Our union is heartbroken. An AFGE member is dead. And a family’s life has been forever changed,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
