Art world reacts to Alex Pretti killing in Minneapolis

Some of the art world’s most vocal figures have reacted to Saturday’s shooting death of Alex Pretti, the second person killed by federal officers in Minneapolis in recent weeks.

Pretti, 37, was shot dead by U.S. Border Patrol officers on Saturday. He was killed just weeks after Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, was also shot dead while driving her SUV by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross.

Art museums in Minneapolis closed Friday, the day before Pretti was killed, in support of widespread protests in Minnesota against ICE in the wake of Good’s death and other recent violence carried out by federal authorities.

Dread Scott, in comments shared online Saturday after Pretti’s death, referred back to the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, which sparked widespread protests nationwide. Chauvin was later convicted of murder.

“After George Floyd was murdered, people all over the country saw the video evidence and said ENOUGH. The rebellion was so courageous, varied, determined and widespread that the government could not contain it,” Scott said.

“Actions in one place inspired others to join them. It spread like wildfire causing the government to loose the initiative and the narrative. Perhaps it was a dress rehearsal.”

Scott, a New York–based conceptual and activist artist, has long made work that directly confronts state violence and constitutionally protected freedoms.

Meanwhile, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jerry Saltz posted an image of Francisco Goya’s 1814 painting, The Third of May 1808, which depicts the execution of unarmed Spanish civilians by French forces during the Peninsular War.

“Sick sick dumbstruck dumbfounded appalled speechless,” Saltz posted.

The reference aligns with language used by others who have described the killing as an execution by the state, rather than a tragic or accidental shooting.

“Another assassination in Minneapolis by ICE,” Hyperallergic co-founder Hrag Vartanian shared in an Instagram story.

Several art-world figures referred broadly to ICE in their responses, though Pretti was killed by Border Patrol agents, which operate under U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Nikkolas Smith, a contemporary artist whose work focuses on police violence and state power, noted in his post that Pretti was a 37-year-old public servant who served as a nurse in the intensive care unit of the Minnesota Veteran Affairs.

“Alex was just murdered for filming ICE and protecting his fellow neighbors,” Smith said.

“And because he had a legal firearm securely tucked away while shielding his neighbors from pepper spray, here comes a flood of 2nd amendment supporters falling all over themselves to be the first to say he deserved to die. He did not. Abolish ICE.”

Curator Jasmine Wahi, founder and co-director of Project for Empty Space, placed the responsibility for Pretti’s murder not just on the individual Border Patrol officers who killed him, but on the entirety of the federal government.

“The USA Federal Government just executed a man in broad daylight,” Wahi said. “This is a developing story. What is not development is that ICE needs to go.”

Lauraberth Lima, a New York-based museum professional who currently the chief of exhibitions and collections at the American LGBTQ+ Museum, called for people to mobilize for demonstrations.

“American horror story. I won’t show the video, but they have killed another innocent legal observer,” Lima said. “Again, if you haven’t cared, it’s getting worse. Learn. Reach out to local organizers. Mobilize!”

Art museums in Minneapolis will close Friday in support of widespread protests in Minnesota against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of the shooting death of Renee Good and other violence.

Shepard Fairey, the artist perhaps best known for his campaign posters for former President Barack Obama, also made comments about federal actions in Minnesota on Friday. He has not yet commented on the latest developments.

“I’ve been disgusted by ICE’s activities nationwide, but especially by the murder of Renee Good and the widespread brutality of ICE in Minnesota,” he said in a post to Instagram. “Please stand up for truth, justice, freedom, and decency by making your voice heard!”

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