Nurses gather to honor Pretti: ‘When you attack one of us, you attack us all’
Two children watched with wide eyes Thursday evening as a woman with a bright red megaphone stepped up to speak on the sidewalk in front of Research Medical Center.
The pair’s snow boots tramped the nearly week-old Kansas City snow, two candles clutched in their small hands. Their mother, Sarah Patton, stood behind them.
Patton, a registered nurse at Research Medical Center, and her two children were among a group that gathered outside Research Medical Center on Thursday evening for a vigil to honor Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday.
RN is third Minnesotan shot by federal agents in January
Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents as they conducted an immigration enforcement action in Minneapolis on Saturday, according to reporting from The Minnesota Star Tribune.
In a video of the incident, Pretti can be seen holding up his phone, seemingly recording an agent interacting with two women on the street, according to reporting from USA Today. An agent reportedly shoved one of the women, and Pretti led the woman away.
The agent then seemingly shoved the second woman, and she fell to the ground, according to USA Today. Pretti then appeared to step between the woman and the agent, and was sprayed with a chemical irritant and shoved by the first agent.
Pretti then appeared to be held down on his hands and knees before an agent seemingly struck him repeatedly with an object toward his head, according to USA Today. In the video, someone can be heard shouting that he has a gun.
Less than a second later, according to USA Today’s video analysis, a shot can be heard. Four more followed, and the agents appeared to back away before firing additional shots toward Pretti.
Pretti’s death came just weeks after federal immigration officers fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, who had ties to Kansas City, in Minneapolis. Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis was also shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 14, but survived, according to USA Today.
Analysis from USA Today shows Pretti was fatally shot just blocks away from where Good died.
‘When the world is doing something wrong, that we can stand up and speak out’
Patton, who is one of the local RN representatives for National Nurses United, brought her children to the vigil Thursday to encourage them to use their voices.
“I think it’s important that they see us as nurses … advocating for our patients, because it’s the right thing to do,” Patton said.
On the way to the vigil, Patton explained to her children who Pretti was, and why they were gathering for him.
“They were so sad … so like, trying to find the balance between sheltering them from the cruelties of the world, and showing them that when the world is doing something wrong, that we can stand up and speak out,” Patton said.
‘When you attack one of us, you attack us all’
Leslie Rogers, an RN who has worked for Research Medical Center for 50 years, spoke at the vigil to exercise her right to peacefully assemble.
“That’s what we’re doing here tonight, and also to honor those who have been killed in these protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country,” Rogers said. “And we have a saying that when you attack one of us, you attack us all.”
Rogers said medical professionals are “very concerned” about the possibility of ICE agents coming to hospitals and disturbing medical professionals’ work taking care of patients.
“This is the first time in my 52 years as a nurse that this is taking place,” Rogers said.
Pretti’s death has left Rogers feeling sad and shocked.
“No one deserves to be shot as many times as he was shot, even in self-defense or whatever it comes out as,” Rogers said.
Lee Barker, an RN at Research Medical Center, told The Star they felt it was important to come to the vigil because nurses care for their communities.
“I think it just goes back to not only do nurses, as we care for our patients, but we care for our communities, and so on,” Barker said. “We’re gonna stand up for what’s right. We shouldn’t have to pay the price with our lives to make sure our communities are safe.”
The vigil ended as the nurses joined together, holding signs, to speak about Pretti.
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 9:43 PM.
