Sights and sounds from Phoenix ICE office as people gather for vigil honoring Alex Pretti

PHOENIX — People came together on Sunday for a vigil at the Phoenix ICE Office in honor of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Phoenix vigil attendees marching from their gathering point to the ICE Phoenix Office.

Some signs include Alex Pretti and Renee Good’s names, while another reads “Murder from every angle” referring to Pretti’s killing on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/3gRsOXOiId

— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) January 25, 2026

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him.

In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appear to show him with a visible weapon.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

Pretti’s killing was the second by federal agents in Minneapolis in the last month, as Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed on Jan. 7.

Among the speakers at the event was Rev. Warren Stewart Sr., formerly the senior pastor of the First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix. He compared ICE to the Ku Klux Klan for how they wore face coverings and sought to divide.

Rev. Warren Stewart Sr. compared ICE to the KKK.

“They were cowards, they covered their faces. … ICE is covering their faces, they don’t want us to know who they are.”

He called for “courageous resistance” in the face of the federal agency’s actions. pic.twitter.com/euiFm1tOWc

— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) January 26, 2026

“(Homeland Security officials) remind me of the racist police, sheriffs and deputies who brutalized and dehumanized people who were marching nonviolently in protest for equal rights during the civil rights movement,” Stewart said. “We must not complain and comply, we must engage in courageous resistance.

“We must not allow this country to go in reverse to where it was before the historic civil rights movement.”

The vigil was organized by Rev. Katie Sexton of Arizona Faith Network, who took aim at the system that made deaths like Pretti’s and Good’s possible.

“We grieve not only these deaths, but for the system that made these deaths possible, the system that made violence possible,” Sexton said. “We lament for the children who have been separated from their parents, for the children who wake in strange places, for children who are moved across borders and systems like property and leverage, who are used as tools of fear and treated as pawns.”

“This can’t just be a dopamine hit for everybody that shows up. You need to reach out to two or three people you know … get them on board.”

Carl from Tucson said the vigil for Alex Pretti is “wonderful” but tangible action has to follow. pic.twitter.com/gZp3GgJr9L

— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) January 26, 2026

Valley locals Chelsea and Kate on why they attended the vigil and why they feel it’s important to push back on ICE.

“I had four different second-grade girls ask me if they were gonna be arrested or if their dad was going to go to jail for being brown.” pic.twitter.com/JGploBHSU4

— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) January 26, 2026

KTAR News’ Balin Overstolz McNair and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Related

Man dead after being shot by federal officers amid immigration crackdown in MinneapolisArizona politicians react to second fatal shooting involving federal officers in MinneapolisMaricopa County Library District celebrates opening of new West Valley branchBygone mall favorite Hot Dog on a Stick plans return to ArizonaCentral Arizona Project president says feds ‘bought the lies’ on Colorado River planGlendale Police ask for help identifying car involved in hit-and-run that killed bicyclist