'We thank you': People honor VA nurse killed during Minnesota protest

Dozens and dozens of people stood on each corner of Gibson and San Mateo SE honoring the late Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest last week.

Some — including Sandia Park resident Roger Grugel — held candles or signs with Pretti's picture on it and a message that said, "This is what service looks like."

"I'm originally from Minnesota and I'm very familiar with the area where (Renee) Good and Pretti were killed," he said.

When Grugel learned about the shootings, he said, "I just decided I couldn't take it anymore."

"I couldn't take the abuse and the stuff I was seeing on TV and what I heard from my friends who were still in Minneapolis," Grugel said. "And I just had to come out here and show my support and be a part of this vigil."

Sunday's event — hosted by American Federation of Government Employees Local 2063 — was one of several nationwide vigils honoring Pretti, who was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent during a Jan. 24 Minneapolis protest about the shooting death of Good, who was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross just weeks earlier.

"As an officer," U.S. Air Force veteran Amanda Somerville said, "we swore to uphold the Constitution, we swore to defend it and what happened and what's happening in Minnesota, to me, is very clearly a direct assault on our constitutionally protected rights."

Somverville said she does not have any faith that the civil rights investigation the Justice Department announced it launched on Friday, according to the Associated Press, "will be done in a fair and impartial manner."

"I have a lot more faith (that) the state will do a better job investigating," she said.

As Somerville held up a candle, New Mexico Nurses Honor Guard member and volunteer Libby Hopkins read, "The Nightingale Tribute," which honors a fallen nurse.

"Nursing is a calling, a lifestyle, a way of living/Nurses here today honor Alex Pretti and his life as a nurse./Pretti is not remembered by his years as a nurse but by the difference he made during those years, by stepping into people's lives./In special moments, he was there.

"... We honor you this day and give you a white rose to symbolize our honor and appreciation for being our colleague."

Hopkins then announced the final roll call by repeating, "Alex Pretti, please report for duty," three times before finishing. 

"Alex Pretti, we thank you and officially release you from your nursing duties."

Gregory R.C. Hasman is a general assignment reporter and the Road Warrior. He can be reached at ghasman@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3820.