Bill Ackman contributes $10K to Alex Pretti GoFundMe after fatal Minneapolis ICE shooting

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Billionaire hedge‑fund manager Bill Ackman has given monetary support of $10,000 to Alex Pretti's family. 

Ackman’s donation was made through GoFundMe, and came as the online fundraiser had raised more than $1.2 million in support of Pretti’s family.

Pretti, a Minneapolis ICU nurse, was fatally shot by a US Border Patrol agent on Saturday, January 24, during an immigration enforcement operation.

Prior to this gift, Ackman publicly criticized Governor Tim Walz for rhetoric he said could lead to violence.

Bill Ackman’s donates to Alex Pretti's family

Ackman donated $10,000 to the GoFundMe campaign set up for the family of Pretti, a 37‑year‑old an anti‑Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protester who was fatally shot during a confrontation with federal immigration agents.

The donation marked a notable public gesture from Ackman, who has previously drawn attention for other contributions tied to controversial incidents.

Ackman also donated $10,000 to a separate GoFundMe for Jonathan Ross, an ICE agent involved in the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good during a traffic stop in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Following that earlier donation, Ackman faced backlash on social media, and some users called for a boycott of Chipotle, a company once linked with Ackman’s investment firm. 

The company moved to clearly separate itself from Ackman, emphasizing that the hedge fund billionaire is “not affiliated with Chipotle” after Ackman fully exited its stake in the restaurant chain by late last year.

Ackman pushed back against the criticism by explaining his reasoning on X, saying he is a “big believer in our legal principle that one is innocent until proven guilty,” and adding that he had intended to contribute to Good’s family fundraiser, but found that it had already been closed when he tried to donate.

He continued, "The whole situation is a tragedy. An officer doing his best to do his job, and a protester who likely did not intend to kill the officer but whose actions in a split second led to her death. Our country is stronger if we work together to resolve the complex issues that are tearing us apart."

Bill Ackman criticizes Tim Walz 

After the shooting, Ackman, in a subsequent post, publicly criticized Walz, suggesting that political leaders’ rhetoric could fuel further violence.

He questioned the pattern of incidents in Minneapolis, asking, “What is it about Minneapolis that the two tragic ICE shootings took place there within two or so weeks of each other? Could it really be a coincidence?"

He further added that it seemed “as if the governor of Minnesota called for protestors to intervene in ICE enforcements in an incendiary manner."

Ackman also issued a warning about the dangers of inflammatory messaging, cautioning that “Inciting the people to rise up against law enforcement is guaranteed to end badly, and now we have seen the tragic consequences.”

He continued, "Gov Tim Walz and those that emulate him, it is time to take the temperature down before more lives are lost."

Walz has urged President Donald Trump to withdraw what he called “untrained” federal immigration agents from the state in the wake of the fatal shooting of Pretti. Walz also said on Monday that Trump agreed to consider reducing the number of immigration agents in Minnesota.

He added that Trump committed to working with state officials to ensure investigators can independently probe the Border Patrol shooting of Pretti. Walz’s office characterized the conversation as “productive,” while Trump said the two leaders were on a “similar wavelength” as they discussed possible next steps to address the tensions surrounding the shooting.