37-year-old Alex Pretti has become the latest victim of federal agents’ wrath. Just over two weeks after the ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good, Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse and a legal US citizen, was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday, January 24, 2026.
The incident has sparked widespread protests and backlash. Hours after the tragedy, Saturday Night Live slammed ICE and federal enforcement in its signature style. During the Weekend Update section of the January 24 SNL episode, Michael Che took digs at Vice President J.D. Vance and ICE officers.
Showcasing a picture of the January 2021 US Capitol attack, Che remarked, “Vice President J.D. Vance criticised protesters confronting ICE Officers, saying they should instead write an op-ed or argue about it on social media. You know, just like these young scholars did on January 6th.”
Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che! pic.twitter.com/OlozUjQNRe
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) January 25, 2026
The comedian then addressed Pretti’s death and said, “I get that ICE agents are people, allegedly, and they have a job to do. But at some point while you’re pepper-spraying old ladies or shooting at a nurse, do you ever stop to ask yourself, ‘Are we d—-?’”
SNL has never shied away from calling out those in power, and often uses satire to comment on important political issues. Earlier in the episode, James Austin Johnson impersonated Donald Trump and mocked him with a fake awards show, where every nomination category revolved around him.
Once again, the show called out the federal agency as Johnson announced as Trump, “After what all my little freaks and psychos in ICE have been doing, I need more distractions. Look, everything’s gold and shiny!”
Meanwhile, videos of the latest Minneapolis shooting incident show Border Patrol agents using pepper-spray on a woman and pushing her down. Pretti is then seen trying to stop the agents from harming the her while recording the incident on his phone.
The agents, on the other hand, claim that Pretti was carrying a gun and posed a security threat. The clips show how the agents surrounded Pretti, pinning him down on the ground, and firing multiple shots while bystanders screamed in horror.
The Department of Homeland Security is back to defend the ICE in the aftermath of the shooting, using the same ‘self-defense’ narrative employed at the time of Good’s death.
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a good neighbor until the very end.
He was murdered for helping her.
It’s sickening—you can clearly see here that he was just holding his phone. pic.twitter.com/PkO5dBRPy9
— ᗰᗩƳᖇᗩ (@LePapillonBlu2) January 25, 2026
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is busy repeating the excuses she gave after Good’s fatal shooting. She claimed that the agents who killed Pretti were only defending themselves according to their training.
Noem said, “This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers, committed an act of domestic terrorism. They [the agents] responded according to their training and took action to defend the officer’s life and those of the public around him.”
Pretti’s grieving parents have accused the Trump administration of murdering their son and spreading lies about him. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has also bashed the federal government for spinning narratives around the incident.
