Glenn Close ‘outraged and sickened’ over Alex Pretti's death, slams Trump regime for cruelty

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Actress Glenn Close said she is “outraged and sickened” by “what is happening under the Trump regime,” reacting to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

The Oscar-nominated star delivered her comments in a video shared on her Instagram on Sunday, January 25.

Glenn Close slams Trump administration's immigration crackdown

“I have watched our democracy being systematically disemboweled and torn apart along with the institutions, which in the near past, though never perfect, have stabilized our society and supported the American people,” Close said.

The 'Fatal Attraction' star then offered a sweeping indictment of the administration.

“I am outraged and sickened by what is happening under the Trump regime. The cruelty, inhumanity, and arrogance, the voracious corruption, the cowardice, the sickening hypocrisy, the blatant manipulation of facts, and now, the cold-blooded murder of American citizens,” she added.

Who was Alex Pretti?

Pretti, 37, was a nurse at VA Minneapolis Health Care and was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis early Saturday morning. In the hours following his death, his parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, issued a statement describing their grief and anger.

“We are heartbroken but also very angry,” they said.

“Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends, and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital."

They said Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. "Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman.”

The family slammed the Trump administration’s response to the shooting, including claims that Pretti had confronted immigration agents with the intent “to perpetuate violence.”

Federal officials said that Pretti had a gun during the encounter. 

Reports suggest he was licensed to carry the firearm and had not drawn it.

Video footage shows Pretti holding a phone and not a gun at the time. An ICE agent appeared to have disarmed Pretti just before he was shot.

Colleagues told The New York Times they were aware that Pretti owned a firearm, though he rarely spoke about it except during occasional discussions about gun reform.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the family said.

“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”

Walz pays tribute

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Sunday, January 25, that he had spoken with Pretti’s parents, who live in Colorado, and said he was trying to help them in their effort to tell the public who their son really was.

Walz described Pretti as someone who lived “a life of generosity,” according to his family.

“Someone who went to work to care for veterans, someone who was a valued co-worker, someone who relished and lived in this state in a big way, whether it was outdoor activities or being down there on the street as a First Amendment witness to what ICE is doing to this state,” Walz said.

The governor also blasted what he called attempts to smear Pretti after his death.

“If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw,” Walz added, “I don’t know what else to tell you.”