John,
This morning, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a U.S. citizen and 37-year-old ICU nurse from Minneapolis was killed on the street by a Border Patrol agent.
Video and reporting show that this was not a split-second error. It looks like deliberate state violence carried out by armed federal agents who treat civilians as expendable.
The hypocrisy is grotesque. Those who defend so-called lawful gun ownership are now rushing to paint Alex as a threat, twisting legality into a pretext for killing him.
Young people in this country are exhausted by gun violence being treated as unavoidable, whether it comes from a civilian with a gun or from state-sanctioned agents acting with impunity. Wearing a badge does not make violence lawful or excusable.
Alex’s family and community deserve answers and accountability, not excuses or crafted narratives that protect the institution involved.
We demand an independent, transparent investigation that tells the whole truth, not a sanitized version meant to deflect blame and shield power.
We grieve with Alex's family, friends, and the community that witnessed today’s tragedy. No family should have to lose a loved one this way.
As a movement formed by young people who have mourned too many lives, we will never accept violence as an ordinary part of daily life, whether it happens on our streets, in our schools, or by agents in uniform.
Today we mourn together and remember Alex Jeffrey Pretti.
Tomorrow we will keep pushing for a world where communities can live without fear.
Thank you for being there, especially through hard moments.
Take care of each other.
— March For Our Lives
