GoFundMe campaign quickly surpasses goal of $20,000 a day after federal agents killed US citizen in Minneapolis<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An online fundraiser benefiting the family of Alex Pretti<\/a> had raised nearly $700,000 by Sunday afternoon, a day after federal agents killed the US citizen and nurse in Minneapolis<\/a> in a shooting that ignited another round of street protests against Donald Trump\u2019s administration and its immigration crackdown<\/a> in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a substantial indication of public sentiment, the \u201cAlex Pretti is an American Hero\u201d campaign<\/a> on the GoFundMe platform surpassed its goal of $20,000 quickly after organizer Keith Edwards launched it on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A statement attributed to Edwards on Saturday maintained that the campaign\u2019s purpose was \u201cto support the loved ones [Pretti] leaves behind with immediate needs\u201d after he was \u201cexecuted on the streets of Minneapolis\u201d. Another statement from Edwards on Sunday said he had managed to get GoFundMe to make Pretti\u2019s father, Michael, the beneficiary of the campaign \u2013 \u201cso their family now has direct access to the funds raised\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you all so much for your support,\u201d Edwards also wrote as donations came in from about 18,500 users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GoFundMe didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pretti, 37, was a registered nurse working in the intensive care unit at the Minneapolis VA healthcare system, which serves veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Videos<\/a> circulating online on Saturday showed Pretti directing traffic and filming federal immigration agents who descended on Minneapolis at the behest of the Trump White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one of the videos, Pretti held up his phone in his right hand, with his left hand empty. Other videos show him coming to the defense of a legal observer who was shoved to the ground by a federal officer. That officer then sprays Pretti with a chemical agent, repeatedly, before tackling him to the street with other agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the officers held him down and hit him, one of them reached to Pretti\u2019s lower back and stepped away with what appeared to be a gun. Video captured one of the agents then shouting: \u201cGun! Gun!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another officer pulled a gun out and evidently shot Pretti once at close range. A second officer pointed a gun at Pretti as he and his colleagues stepped back, and a volley of 10 more shots erupted, video evidence showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pretti was legally permitted to carry a gun, and none of the video evidence \u2013 taken from multiple angles \u2013 depicted him ever brandishing one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement to Minneapolis news outlet Kare 11<\/a>, Pretti\u2019s father and mother, Susan, described themselves as \u201cheartbroken but also very angry\u201d. They dismissed what they called \u201csickening lies\u201d from Trump administration officials after US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem<\/a> on Saturday floated the observably false accusation that Pretti was shot dead upon approaching federal officers while brandishing a gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noem also accused Pretti of harboring an intent \u201cto kill law enforcement\u201d, prompting his parents to say in their statement: \u201cAlex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump\u2019s murdering and cowardly [immigration] thugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlease get the truth about our son. He was a good man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pretti\u2019s killing came 17 days after Renee Nicole Good<\/a>, also a 37-year-old American citizen, was shot dead in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer, with video showing her trying to drive away from him. A GoFundMe campaign meant to financially support Good\u2019s family raised<\/a> more than $1.5m before organizers closed it two days after her shooting death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Street protests met both Good and Pretti\u2019s slayings, along with widespread calls for the officers at the center of the cases to be held accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n