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MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — Six months ago, U.S. Border Patrol agents killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti in south Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge.
Only on WCCO, we’re hearing from his parents, Susan and Michael Pretti, through attorney Steven Schleicher about the investigation into their son’s death.
Schleicher called this investigation “an absolute nightmare.” He said the Pretti family still has no information about who killed their son.
The video of his killing was watched across the world, sparking community outcry, grief, sadness and frustration.
“For the family, every single day without answers is a nightmare,” Schleicher said. “It’s painful and, frankly, it’s cruel.”
Schleicher says the investigation has been more hurtful than most people could even begin to imagine.
“Learning not only that their son was murdered, but that people were telling lies about him,” Schleicher said.
Schleicher was a top federal prosecutor during the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis in May 2020.
“I saw state and federal authorities working together,” he said.
Schleicher says he doesn’t know why there isn’t that cooperation now.
“I don’t think there is a good explanation for why that isn’t happening,” he said. “When I met with Dan Rosen, the United States attorney, he would neither confirm or deny that any information was shared or provide any meaningful information to the family.”
Although Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her investigators now have access to hard drives and body-worn cameras, Schleicher says he doesn’t need those new views to see what happened.
“It was a cellphone. He was holding a cellphone. He was recording his cellphone, his other hand was empty,” Schleicher said.
After the deadly shooting, now-former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti committed an act of domestic terrorism. Schleicher said he hasn’t spoken with her since.
“A very high office to spread these lies about them is painful,” Schleicher said. “What the Prettis want is to quietly grieve their son, but they’re not allowed to do that.”
WCCO reached out to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, which both declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office gave this statement to WCCO Thursday: “Our analysis of the evidence continues, and we’re committed to being transparent about our decision when it’s reached.”
Susan Pretti released a statement last week to mark six months since the shooting, saying in part, “six months of pain, a rollercoaster of trauma over and over.”
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