In 2024, nurse Alex Pretti paid tribute to one of his military veteran patients — in a moment that is now being widely shared online in the wake of his own controversial death
“He read my dad’s final salute at the VA after he passed away. Never wanted to share this video, but his speech is very on point,” the man’s son wrote on social media
Pretti, 37, was shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, amid a crackdown there on immigrants

About a year before he was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis, nurse Alex Pretti paid tribute to one of his patients — in a moment that is now being widely shared online in the wake of his own controversial death.

“Today we remember that freedom is not free. We have to work at it, nurture it, protect it and even sacrifice for it,” Pretti, who worked in the intensive care unit at Minneapolis’ VA Medical Center, said of Terrance Lee Randolph shortly after Randolph died on Dec. 10, 2024.

According to Randolph’s obituary, he was a “cherished husband, father, grandfather, and friend” and died at 77.

A clip of Pretti marking Randolph’s military service and memory was shared on social media last week after Pretti was killed. A user describing himself as Randolph’s son, Mac, wrote that Pretti had been his father’s nurse in the ICU.

“He read my dad’s final salute at the VA after he passed away. Never wanted to share this video, but his speech is very on point,” Mac wrote in a caption.

“He was extremely knowledgeable and caring,” Mac told the Associated Press of Pretti. “He was able to answer any questions we had and would really hear out our concerns. He treated my father and our family with the utmost dignity and respect. He was truly one of the best of us.”

In the footage, Pretti reads aloud at the head of what appears to be Randolph’s hospital bed after his death.

“May we never forget to always remember our brothers and sisters who have served so we may enjoy the gift of freedom,” Pretti says before there is a moment of silence and the bed is escorted away.

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Alex Pretti

Alex Pretti.va.gov

Pretti, 37, was shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24, amid a crackdown there on immigrants without legal status — a signature Trump campaign promise — that has sparked widespread protests and unrest.

There have been several competing accounts of what led to Pretti’s death, with Homeland Security officials painting him as an armed agitator intent on violence who was killed as part of a “defensive” shooting.

Video from the scene seems to plainly contradict this, showing him holding a phone before being swarmed by agents.