Neighbor says Alex Pretti was member of ICE Watch Signal chat

The Minneapolis local, Jeanne Massey, who lives just a block away from Pretti, said that he was a member of an anti-ICE agitator group to keep tabs on the federal immigration force. It is not clear what role Pretti had in the anti-ICE Signal group chat, according to the Mirror. Pretti had also been involved in the Black Lives Matter unrest that took place in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd.

Massey spoke about the incident on behalf of her neighbors, saying, “Let me be clear: we are horrified, we are furious, and we are not going to pretend this is anything but what it is — another senseless act of violence carried out by federal agents in our city.”

“This is the third time in just weeks that someone has been shot during these so-called enforcement operations, and it’s devastating to see another life taken while our community is trying to stand up for justice and safety.”

Massey said that she was one of the dozens of anti-ICE activists who went to the scene of the shooting after Pretti was killed. The shooting of Pretti takes place just weeks after Renee Good, another anti-ICE activist, was shot to death while she drove her car into an ICE agent. She and her partner Becca were blocking the road at the time with their car when ICE agents approached them.

As both shootings have occurred, there have been increasing tensions between federal law enforcement and the agitators on the ground actively attempting to interfere with ICE. Over the weekend, independent journalist Cam Higby exposed a wide network of anti-ICE group chats dedicated to interfering in ICE operations, with some members of the group appearing to be officials of the Minnesota government.