He was a calm presence amid hospital chaos. A mentor who taught kindness and patience to younger friends and colleagues. A singer with a knack for dancing. A bicyclist who treasured the beauty of Minnesota.
This weekend, the family, co-workers and friends of Alex Pretti, who was killed by immigration agents in a confrontation after he was apparently filming them, remembered his life, even as the circumstances of his death were debated on the national stage.
They shared photos of the Alex they knew: a smiling, bearded Mr. Pretti in the powder-blue scrubs he wore at his job as an intensive-care nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital, an outdoors lover posing with his mountain bike on a wooded trail and a student wearing a green cap and gown as he sang a solo at his high school graduation in Green Bay, Wis.
And they denounced what they saw as smear campaigns in the aftermath of Mr. Pretti’s death.
Within hours of the killing by federal agents on a Minneapolis street, Trump administration officials labeled Mr. Pretti a “would-be assassin” and asserted, with no evidence, that he had committed an act of “domestic terrorism.”
Through their own shock and grief, people who knew him struggled to rise above the lies and insults, they said, to describe who he was.
Rory Shefchek, a friend from high school who now lives in Madison, Wis., said that he hoped that Mr. Pretti would be remembered as the person he knew.
“He was a helpful, kind guy,” Mr. Shefchek said. “He was a confident, diligent and respectful person throughout his life. I hope that Alex’s story can catalyze change, as someone who believed in doing the right thing.”
Of the cellphone footage of Mr. Pretti’s death that has circulated widely in the news and on social media, Mr. Shefchek said, “We have all seen the video and our eyes don’t lie.”
Dr. Dimitri Drekonja, a colleague of Mr. Pretti’s at the VA hospital, was shaken when he heard that an immigration agent had killed a civilian in Minneapolis. It was awful, he said, even before he learned that the civilian was his friend.
“He was a happy guy,” Dr. Drekonja said. “When you asked him to do something, it would be done and it would be done right.”
Mr. Pretti, who was 37, was on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic, and was always eager to help whoever needed an extra hand. He was the kind of nurse patients remembered, colleagues said, and he was a beloved mentor to nurses stepping into the intimidating environment of the intensive care unit.
As an ICU nurse, he was accustomed to people in crisis, said Elissa Todd, a colleague and friend. He was also trained in de-escalation, she noted. Ms. Todd said it was painful to see his last moments knowing personally how calmly Mr. Pretti was able to manage the chaos and stress that came with his job.
“Whatever conversation was being had, I cannot imagine he’s someone who would have made it worse,” she said, referring to his interaction with immigration agents in the minutes before he died. “He would have been someone who was being reasonable and thinking clearly.”
She paused, before saying “I can’t imagine what their last dialogue was, but I will say that he’s uniquely qualified to handle it with integrity and grace.”
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said on Sunday that he had spoken with Mr. Pretti’s parents, who live in Colorado. Mr. Walz said he was trying to channel their desire to tell the world who Mr. Pretti really was, a person who lived “a life of generosity” according to his family.
