More than a week after federal immigration agents killed a Veterans Affairs nurse in Minneapolis, a staffer at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center says patients visiting the hospital have asked why there is nearly no sign that Alex Pretti worked there.
“I’ve had veterans a little surprised there was not something at the front entrance acknowledging Alex,” said a VA staffer at the hospital. “I understand the reasons local leadership feels they cannot respond, and it stings.”
VA personnel in the Minneapolis campus and others who work in other VA medical facilities outside of Minnesota told Task & Purpose over the last week that Pretti’s death remains largely unspoken inside the system. They described a widespread feeling that VA leaders, including Secretary Doug Collins, have largely downplayed or ignored Pretti’s death and perhaps even stifled the topic. The VA employees, some of whom are veterans, spoke to Task & Purpose on condition of anonymity, not wanting to be identified out of concern of reprisals.
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was killed on Jan. 24 while filming a Department of Homeland Security sweep in Minneapolis. Monday afternoon, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Pretti’s death a homicide.
One employee at the Minneapolis VA campus said that shortly after the killing, an email went out to staff that said they “may have heard” about Pretti’s “passing.” Staff were directed to resources such as chaplain services, but officials otherwise did not address the killing.
“Definitely a palpable funk in the whole facility,” another employee at the Minneapolis campus said. The staffer said they did not know Pretti well, but “saw him around.”
Town hall and memorial
A VA-wide town hall with Collins is scheduled for this Wednesday, the first since the Jan. 24 shooting. An internal email announcing the event, shared by VA staffers with Task & Purpose, said the town hall with Collins is “to answer questions about the Veterans Health Administration’s planned reorganization, our shared accomplishments during his first year as Secretary.”
Questions to Collins must be submitted in advance, the email said, and Pretti and Minneapolis are not mentioned in the email.
But VA employees say Pretti’s death remains on the minds of many. “I would say morale has been low. It feels quieter around the facility. Most conversations I’m having with coworkers find their way back to the situation,” said one employee.
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Another point of frustration among Minneapolis VA staffers has been perceived resistance to plans for a formal memorial service for Pretti, who became a nurse in 2021. Though there have been several large vigils in the Twin Cities with civic leaders for Pretti, the only tributes inside the VA have been informal ones among staffers. Personnel at the campus said that they communicated with each other to wear black on Monday, Jan. 26, in solidarity and mourning, and that an impromptu memorial site honoring Pretti was set up at the fence around the Minneapolis VA campus. Photos of it show flowers, candles and messages written in cards and signs.
Though Minneapolis VA officials announced last week that an official memorial to Pretti will be held at the hospital this week, an attempt at holding one last week was blocked by VA officials in Washington, according to reporting in the Washington Post. Two Minneapolis VA employees told Task & Purpose they also had been told the memorial had been cancelled.
“VA employees are welcome to memorialize Alex Pretti in their own way as long as they are respectful and it does not interfere with their work duties,” Melanie Nelson, a spokesperson for Minneapolis VA Medical Center, said in an emailed statement to Task & Purpose on Monday. “To that end, Minneapolis VA Health Care System is hosting a Memorial Service open to employees this week.”
Staffers said they also had been wounded by largely “tone deaf” reactions from VA leadership, including Secretary Collins. Collins’ first statement on Pretti came as a social media post a day after he was killed. Collins offered condolences to Pretti’s family but did not address the circumstances around Pretti’s killing, accusations made by administration officials about the deceased, or the effect his death might have on co-workers.
“Silence is deafening on our side,” a third Minneapolis-area VA employee told Task & Purpose, regarding communication from department leadership.
A VA official outside of Minnesota reported similar issues. The official, who asked that their location not be identified except as outside Minnesota, also cited a lack of messages from Washington. They said local officials at their healthcare system sent messages of support to Minneapolis colleagues. Staff morale, they said, is “definitely lower, not that it had been great with everything else going on for federal employees and the VA specifically. People are clearly bothered though, and this feels like the longest a national news event has hung over operations the way this has.”
It was only in the last few days that local leadership started to more directly acknowledge what it called a “difficult time” in conversations with staff, the second Minneapolis VA employee said.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing more than 1,000 Minneapolis VA Medical Center personnel, has been more vocal and organized vigils. An email from the president of the union’s National VA Council said that the council remains committed to protecting the First Amendment rights of all VA employees. The email to members went on to say that “Any attempt to disparage Alex’s character is wrong. We will continue to honor his legacy and commitment to our nation’s veterans.”
