At vigil in Minneapolis, a longtime friend remembers Alex Pretti
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Heather Zielinski brought a candle to a memorial for Alex Pretti at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in south Minneapolis on Saturday evening. She had already planned to pay respects to a man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent earlier that day, after seeing the video on social media. She later learned with shock that the victim was her longtime friend.
Zielinski described Pretti as a compassionate presence in her life and in the community, as well as for the patients he cared for as a nurse at the Minneapolis VA. She said she met him more than a decade ago after moving back to Minneapolis and stayed in touch over the years, most recently reconnecting over coffee at Gigi’s Cafe.
“He was a good human being and was just trying to help someone,” Zielinski said. “He was really involved in his work and in nature. He was a great dog dad. An honest, funny and kind person. The things that he did, he did it with his whole heart.”
As part of a remembrance to Pretti, block-by-block vigils sprang up across Minneapolis and beyond, as neighbors gathered with candles to stand in solidarity and mourn Pretti’s death. Some corners had small gatherings, while others hosted hundreds.
Todd Schuman, a block leader at 50th Street and Vincent Avenue, said neighborhoods coordinated vigils along 50th Street in the Fulton area. Additional gatherings spread across Minneapolis in the Northrop, Field, Diamond Lake, Regina, Page and Hale neighborhoods.
“It’s all of us right now keeping each other safe, because no one else is doing it. Our police aren’t doing it. The federal government isn’t doing it. Nobody’s doing it. It’s us. We’re what we have. And this is a showing of that. We’re all in this together,” Schuman said. “Even in the darkest circumstances, there’s light. And the light for me is seeing tens of thousands of ordinary people meeting the moment with whatever they have.”
— Lindsey Seavert for MPR News
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
This story is part of our live coverage. Go to live updates.
