Lucy Devine
A fundraiser set up for anti-ICE protestor, Alex Pretti, who was shot by a federal agent on Saturday (January 24), has now surpassed $1 million as one of the richest men makes a huge donation.
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was fatally shot by a federal immigration officer in the street in Minneapolis, which comes just weeks after mom-of-three Renee Good was killed in her car in the same city.
Following the incident, the Department of Homeland Security said that federal immigration agents fired shots in a move of self-defence, claiming Pretti had a handgun at the time. This contrasts with both witness accounts and video footage, which show him holding a cell phone, not a gun.
Multiple videos of the incident have been circulating online, with The Guardian claiming that after reviewing one piece of footage, Pretti - who was legally licensed to have a gun - was never seen holding a firearm in his hand.
Advert
In a separate video, Pretti is believed to have stepped in to defend a woman who was allegedly pushed to the ground by an officer. It is at this point that he is repeatedly sprayed with a chemical agent and tackled to the ground.
More witness videos show agents surrounding Pretti as one officer allegedly reaches down before stepping back with what is believed to be a gun. Seconds later, shots are fired.
A fundraiser that declares Pretti an 'American Hero' has now been set up to support Pretti's loved ones.
With a target of $20,000, the page has now received over $1.5 million in donations, including $10,000 from billionaire Bill Ackman, which his reps confirmed to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday evening (January 25).
He also confirmed over on X in a response to a tweet asking for his donation, to which he replied: "Done. That said, I don’t agree with the GoFundMe that he is an American hero, but his loss is tragic for him and his family."
Ackman had previously donated $10,000 to a GoFundMe for Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot Good.
The billionaire wrote that he had also intended to support Good's loved ones, but the fundraiser had already closed as 'it had achieved its $1.5 million fundraising objective'.
He previously said: "I was simply continuing my longstanding commitment to assisting those accused of crimes of providing for their defense."
Following mounting backlash over Pretti's death, President Donald Trump recently took to Truth Social, where he said he'd had a 'very good call' with the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, adding that they are on the 'same wavelength' on the situation.
In a statement, Walz's office explained: “The president agreed that he would talk to his Department of Homeland Security about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case.
“The president also agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals.”