Portland vigil honors ICU nurse Alex Pretti, killed in Minneapolis during federal immigration enforcement operation

Hundreds gather at Portland VA medical center after Minneapolis shooting

About 500 people attended a vigil Tuesday at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center to honor Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse who was fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis on Saturday, January 24, 2026. The gathering in Portland was one of several demonstrations nationally following the shooting, which has intensified scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement tactics and the use of force during street-level encounters.

Pretti worked as a nurse within the Veterans Affairs system in Minneapolis. His death has drawn a strong response from health care workers and labor advocates, as well as from people who say they are concerned about accountability when federal agencies operate in cities far from the southern border.

What federal officials have disclosed about the shooting

In a notice transmitted to Congress, U.S. Customs and Border Protection outlined a preliminary account stating that federal personnel supporting an ongoing enforcement initiative in Minnesota repeatedly told civilians to remain on sidewalks and out of the roadway near Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street in Minneapolis. The account says officers attempted to take Pretti into custody after a confrontation in the street escalated into a struggle.

The same notice states that two federal officers discharged their weapons during the encounter—one identified as a Border Patrol agent and the other as a Customs and Border Protection officer. The report describes an officer repeatedly shouting that Pretti had a gun during the struggle. The notice characterizes the information as preliminary and subject to revision as additional evidence is reviewed.

• Incident date: January 24, 2026
• Location: Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street, Minneapolis
• Federal agencies referenced: U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol
• Key disclosed detail: two officers fired shots during the encounter

Reviews underway and questions that remain

Federal officials have indicated that an internal review is being conducted by Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility, and that relevant oversight bodies were notified. The disclosure of body-worn camera footage review as part of the preliminary process has not resolved public questions about the sequence of events, including whether commands were clearly communicated, how the confrontation unfolded, and what immediate threat officers perceived at the time gunfire began.

For many participants at the Portland vigil, the central demand was clarity: a complete public accounting of how an ICU nurse came to be killed during a street encounter with federal officers hundreds of miles from Oregon.

Broader context: federal enforcement operation in Minnesota

The Minneapolis shooting occurred amid an intensified federal immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that has generated sustained protests and political fallout. The operation has involved multiple Department of Homeland Security components, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol. In early January, a separate fatal shooting in Minneapolis involving an immigration agent heightened public attention and helped fuel continued demonstrations.

In Portland, attendees described the vigil as a moment of mourning and solidarity, reflecting how events in Minneapolis have reverberated in communities with large federal facilities and active immigrant-rights and labor constituencies.