{"id":27065,"date":"2026-01-24T17:00:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/?p=27065"},"modified":"2026-01-25T14:52:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T19:52:56","slug":"statement-on-killing-of-alex-jeffrey-pretti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/statement-on-killing-of-alex-jeffrey-pretti\/","title":{"rendered":"Statement on the Killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti"},"content":{"rendered":"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong>: January 25, 2025<\/div>\n
Contact<\/strong>: Pablo DeJesus | info@uusj.org<\/a><\/div>\n
Share<\/strong>: https:\/\/bit.ly\/AlexPretti<\/a><\/div>\n
Updated: as of 2:00 p.m. ET<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
— # —<\/div>\n

Federal Agents Are Out Of Control With Violence<\/b><\/h1>\n

A lack of Congressional oversight and moral bankruptcy is killing people.<\/i><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/div>\n

WASHINGTON D.C. \u2014 On Saturday, January 24, 2025, Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot dead by federal agents deployed to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Early on, reports identified the law enforcement officers as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); later, other outlets identified the agents as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents (Fox 32<\/a><\/strong>). This is the second fatal shooting among three firearm discharge incidents by federal immigration agents in the city this year (CNN<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Accounts of Pretti’s close-proximity interaction with federal agents differ significantly (NPR<\/strong><\/a>). Federal officials indicate the presence and brandishing of a gun as the immediate cause of a self-defense shooting. Community members offer accounts without mention of a brandished gun, but do mention a camera (Guardian<\/strong><\/a>). Residents of the city reacted quickly, decrying the incident and the federal presence in Minneapolis (StarTribune<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

In response, Pablo DeJes\u00fas, Executive Director, UUSJ, made the following statement: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe condemn the continued violence by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We are profoundly disturbed by the killing of another community member, Alex Jeffrey Pretti. Federal agents, ICE, CBP, and other agents continue to perpetrate tragedy in Minneapolis with the use of pepper spray, tear gas, flash bangs, and aggressive close-proximity tactics.<\/p>\n

Federal agents are out of control. ICE is out of control. CBP is out of control. As we have said, ‘this is the fight of our generation, of our several generations<\/a>.’<\/p>\n

They did not get a strong and clear ‘cease and desist’ signal from Washington DC in response to the killing of Renee Good<\/a>. No admonishment for ICE, CBP, or DHS to ease back on the behaviors putting people and communities in danger.<\/p>\n

Instead, the House gave ICE, CBP, and DHS a de facto green light with Thursday’s funding vote (UUSJ)<\/a>. Thus, we now have Pretti’s death.<\/p>\n

Our Unitarian Universalist faith tradition places love at the center. We’ve heard the call by Minnesotans. We side\u00a0 in solidarity with their struggle. We know it is symptomatic of the larger policy and state violence being perpetrated across the United States. We see the larger struggle.<\/p>\n

Thus, we decry the violation of the community. The mounting tyranny. We condemn the abuses and deaths in detention. The increasing indifference. We name as evil the separation of families and children. It’s virulent cruelty. We call it moral bankruptcy to fund ICE and CBP further. It’s institutional consent for brutality. We lament the shredding of our constitutional norms. It’s a challenge to our legislative republic.<\/p>\n

The Senate must heed the pleas and plight of the people. As they negotiate their funding bills, they must impose the active oversight and accountability the House failed to take up.<\/p>\n

We pledge to continue speaking out in love on these matters. With bravery. Grounded in our faith. Showing spiritual discipline for shaping justice. In solidarity and compassion with all the people suffering at the hands of our government.\u201d<\/p>\n

— # – # —<\/p>\n

Correction: <\/strong>Jan. 25, 2026, 2:00 p.m. ET
\nA previous version of this statement asserted that ICE was the agency involved; it would have been more accurate to write “federal agents.” Reporting later in the day on Saturday, January 24, and by Sunday, January 25, consistently indicates CBP, especially after comments by Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino (CNN<\/strong><\/a>) (Politico<\/a><\/strong>)(CBS<\/strong><\/a>)(Axios<\/strong><\/a>)(FoxNews<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

-#-<\/p>\n

Established in 1999, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice is a network of Unitarian Universalist individuals and congregations that lifts up the light of reason, the warmth of community, and the flame of hope to advance equitable national policies and actions aligned with UU values through witness, education, and advocacy. We envision a just, compassionate, and sustainable world community. Follow us on social media.<\/i><\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 25, 2025 Contact: Pablo DeJesus | info@uusj.org Share: https:\/\/bit.ly\/AlexPretti Updated: as of 2:00 p.m. ET — # — Federal Agents Are Out Of Control With Violence A lack of Congressional oversight and moral bankruptcy is killing people. \u00a0\u00a0 WASHINGTON D.C. \u2014 On Saturday, January 24, 2025, Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot … Continue reading Statement on the Killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1241,42,1934,31,1971,3,13,1938,17,1970],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-racism-multiculturalism","category-civil-liberties","category-community-organizing","category-democracy","category-human-rights","category-immigration-justice","category-news","category-politics","category-racism","category-unitarian-universalism","category-uusj-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27065"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27079,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27065\/revisions\/27079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}