Introduction
Some stories do not ask to be told.
They insist.
They rise up from cold streets and broken lives and troubled consciences, and they refuse to be buried under official statements, polished press releases, or convenient forgetting. They stay with us. They trouble our sleep. They whisper, “What will you do with this?”
The story of Alex Pretti is one of those.
He was not famous. He did not seek attention. He did not set out to become a symbol. He was a nurse. A healer. A man who believed that helping others was not an occasional act, but a way of life. On a bitter January morning in Minnesota, he carried that belief into a public square—and paid for it with his life.
What follows is not just a poem.
It is a witness.
A remembrance.
A refusal to let truth be erased.
The Ballad of Alex Pretti
On a January morning, bitter and gray,
When Minnesota’s breath froze night into day,
While most stayed hidden in quilted retreat,
One man rose steady on compassionate feet.
Alex Pretti, a healer by trade,
Tended brave souls in the debts war had made,
An ICU nurse with a heart open wide,
Who served those who served—no comfort denied.
That morning he walked where the cold winds cried,
To stand for the weak, to stand for the right,
At a rally for peace, with justice in sight,
Where freedom still flickered in shadowed light.
A few days before, another had fallen,
Renée Good—her name softly calling,
A mother, a poet, a keeper of flame,
Struck down while peace was her only claim.
Two watchers of order, two keepers of calm,
With nothing but courage and outstretched palms,
Both standing firm in a fragile land,
With nothing but truth in their trembling hands.
Then chaos descended in armored form,
With shouted commands and chemical storm,
A woman was hurled to the frozen ground,
And Alex ran forward at mercy’s sound.
They sprayed him blind with burning pain,
They crushed him down in iron rain,
Six bodies upon him, fists and knees,
Power unleashed without restraint or ease.
They found his weapon—still untouched,
No threat displayed, no finger clutched,
No cry for violence, no shot returned,
Only a conscience that fiercely burned.
Then thunder spoke—two shots rang clear,
And Alex fell to a silence severe,
His body stilled on the icy street,
Where justice and cruelty cruelly meet.
They stepped away… then fired again,
Eight more times into the fallen man,
As if death itself were not enough,
As if mercy were weak and hatred was tough.
No hands reached out, no aid was given,
No prayer rose up to the wintered heaven,
A good man lay where freedom bled,
While truth grew quiet among the dead.
And later came voices, official and loud,
Draped in uniforms, wrapped in their pride:
“They were not peaceful, they were the foe,
They were paid, they were violent, they had to go.”
Terrorists, rioters, enemies named,
Their memories twisted, their honor shamed,
But cameras remember what power denies,
And witnesses speak what survives the lies.
They saw him fall while shielding a stranger,
They saw his courage outweigh the danger,
They saw a man choose love over fear,
When the cost was life and the end was near.
For heroes are not those crowned by command,
But those who stand when others can’t stand,
Who give their breath so others may breathe,
Who plant their hope in frozen grief.
So sing his name in winter’s cry,
Let Alex Pretti never die,
For every heart that still believes
In justice, compassion, and mercy’s leaves—
His story lives in every soul
That dares to make a broken world whole.
Reflections on the Ballad of Alex Pretti
When the last verse is read, the danger is that we will sigh, feel sad for a moment, and then move on.
But stories like this were never meant to be “consumed.”
They were meant to change us.
Alex Pretti did not die because he was reckless. He died because he was decent. Because he stepped forward when it was safer to step back. Because he chose compassion when fear was being weaponized. Because he believed that another human being was worth protecting—even at great personal cost.
The real question his life leaves us is not “what happened to him?”
It is what happens to us now?
Will we remember?
Will we question easy lies?
Will we defend the vulnerable?
Will we insist that power answer to truth?
If we do, then Alex’s life was not silenced.
It became a call.
And it is still calling.
On May 12, 2025, Acting Director Todd Lyons authored a secret memorandum that was later leaked by a whistleblower. ICE officers were told to follow the memo’s guidance instead of written training materials. It authorized ICE officers to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant:
‘Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of the General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose.’[11]
Administrative warrants are generated and signed by ICE agents and are not approved of by either federal district court or magistrate judges.[12] Historically administrative warrants were used to arrest individuals in public places, and only judicial warrants could authorize ICE agents to enter private residences.[12] The practice described by the memo is likely a violation of the Fourth Amendment which requires a warrant issued by a judge to authorize physical intrusion into private residencies.[13] Although addressed to all ICE officers, the memo was only shared with select DHS officials who were directed to verbally brief this policy to ICE officers during training.[12][13] The memo was to be kept confidential under risk of potential firing
Aging Capriciously 
Jan 27, 2026 @ 10:19:24
Wow, John! This is a tragically beautiful poem! Do you mind if I share it this afternoon? Thank you … Thank you for writing this!
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 10:28:47
No of course not Jill. The more people that think about these murders the better.
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 11:27:47
Thank you so much, John. And yes, I think we need to keep his name front and center, not let people forget.
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 11:29:37
Yes, I agree and thanks for reposting Jill. They just might come for both of us now so we can have a coffee together. That is if they sell coffee in these detention centers.
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 11:33:00
Now there’s a thought! We might share coffee with many of our like-minded friends!
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 11:45:38
Before they march us off to Siberia or some other remote place. 😦
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 12:59:13
Given the “state of the union” today, we might actually find we like it better in Siberia!
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 13:29:56
Good thought. You may be right but I sold my ski’s when I moved down to AZ.
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 00:04:06
I’ll buy you a new pair … and one for myself, too, but you’ll have to teach this klutz how to ski!
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 03:55:59
It would be my pleasure to teach you Jill. Ever since we moved down here, I am nostalgic for snow covered trails, flocked trees and ice cold babbling brooks that I sometimes had to find my way across. I would often stop and just listen and scan the woods. Off in a large pine tree a snowy owl would be pensively watching me. A little further away blending in perfectly with the bushes would be a pair of deer just looking at me and thinking “I wonder where he is going in such a hurry.” The sounds of stillness only broken by the swift running stream and pines occasionally dumping snow on the trail. This was my idea of heaven. No Trump. No politics. No madness. A place and a time that truly seemed to be at peace with itself. Even if it was only a mirage.
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 22:29:21
I can understand that … I used to go hiking with my friend, Herb, and I always loved the peace I felt there in the woods, with only a few rabbits, squirrels, and an occasional deer for company. I never hiked in the cold, though! But I do love the woods, love the tranquility that makes all the trauma fade into the background for a while. And yes, that peace may be only a mirage, but it’s a healing one, maybe one that we all need from time to time these days.
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Jan 29, 2026 @ 04:51:35
As soon as I get over this pace maker install, I want to get out hiking in the desert again. It is not quite as serene or pretty as the forests, but it has its own charm. Fourteen years up until a short while ago of running desert trails has created a fondness in me for Saguaros and Prickly Pear cacti not to mention hares and coyotes.
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Jan 30, 2026 @ 00:22:31
I keep forgetting to ask … how is the pacemaker working out? Did everything go as it was supposed to? Be sure to take some pictures to send me when you ‘hit the trail’ again!
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Jan 30, 2026 @ 02:58:20
Thanks for asking Jill. So far so good. I am into week 5 of an 8 week “installation” program I guess you could call it. Certain things I can do and not do in terms of movement, exercise, lifting, running, walking etc. This is supposed to be the most critical time. Since I feel better, it is more likely I will try to do stupid things like the other night lifting a 50 lb. bag of sand when my limit is supposed to be ten lbs. I was very careful but Karen said that I am incorrigible. I have to look up that word. It has too many syllables for my vocabulary.
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Jan 30, 2026 @ 22:02:53
A 50-pound bag of sand??? Heck, I couldn’t do that on my best days!!! But take it easy, my friend! For the record, I agree with Karen!!! Yeah, look the word up … you may find that you agree with her, too! 😏
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 10:47:51
John, excellent poem/story of a kind, helpful, generous man that was uselessly murdered by hyper-testosteronal ICE agents looking to cause trouble with their Carte Blanche from Dumb-Rump and Kristi Noem. Clearly this immigration enforcement has lost its way horribly!
And isn’t ironic that on Jan. 6th, 2021, all those “domestic terrorists” at the Capitol Building—which killed 1-2 Capitol Police Officers and put a few in critical condition in ICU—were all carrying multiple weapons with their velcro-ed up military fatigues and Dumb-Rump pardoned and released most all of them!? Talk about a double standard when it suits your own interests, agenda, and ideology then doesn’t apply to your political adversaries. Hmmm, things that make you go hmmm in total lividness. Isn’t that called “I’m above the law” and receive special treatment over others?
It is so very, very sad what this country has turned into… mostly because about 90-million American voters did NOT go vote to stop Dumb-Rump from getting into the White House a second time! Democracy is not a toy soldier that you wind-up and let it go indefinitely without protecting it and participating in it. But many lazy Americans act and think that way every 2-years. Crushing. 😟😔
The writing was on the wall in flashing neon lights even back in April 2023 when Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership was made public and published for ALL, everyone to read that THIS was going to happen. And yet… 🤷♂️ By the way John, I read all 790-pages of it, twice. None of this is a huge surprise.
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 11:35:31
Yes Professor, It reminds me of what they said about Hitler. “He does not really mean it.” “He is just trying to get attention and will change when he is in office.” Too many of Americans have said the same thing about chump. I have been saying for years “He really fucking means it.” And like Hitlers Mein Kamph, it was all written down. Only chump was too stupid to write anything coherent so he had his minions at the Heritage Institute do it. Actually, I think he is still mostly a puppet but a good puppet in terms of the image he presents for a subset of Americans. I can only hope that “We shall overcome” or Else go down fighting.
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 14:36:37
Thank you for the tragic, yet beautiful poem John. It’s still unbelievable to me that this continues to happen. As a political animal I’ve always known how important and necessary it is to be involved with local and national politics. We may say “I don’t do politics, but then find politics does us!” But what’s going on in America currently is appalling and you’re right in continuing to call it out. If it helps you to know, be assured that many of us over here in the UK are doing the same. The distance between us doesn’t mean we don’t feel distraught for all Americans about current atrocities. We must never forget.
RIP Renee Nicole Good
and
Alex Pretti
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 16:37:51
Margaret, Your thoughts and comments are more helpful than you may ever know. It is not easy living in this country any more and it helps that you and others share your feelings with us. As your famous poet Donne said “Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee and me.” We are all brothers and sisters on this earth and whatever is done to one is done to all. The injustice today we face is heartbreaking. I need to constantly remind myself of what many Jews had to go through with Hitler. There is no telling when we may see the light at the end of the tunnel. I fear I may never live long enough to see it. I also have had a difficult time when people say “I don’t do politics.” Ninety million Americans who did not bother to turn off their TV’s and go vote. My friends all ask me if I think it is over for the USA. I really do not know. I only know I don’t plan to go down passively. Thank you again for the comments. I only wish that the parents and loved ones of Renee and Alex can see them someday. I know it would mean a lot to them.
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 17:18:23
If only …. It’s absolutely heartbreaking John.
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 17:44:39
Thanks for penning this. It is pertinent. There are so many things that led to the death of these two people. It starts with poor leadership, sanctioned heavy handedness and absence of due process. It is supported by poor hiring and training practices and rash judgment. Any of us who choose to step in and say this is not right is at risk. Even VA nurses or ministers, who got arrested. Keith
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Jan 27, 2026 @ 18:20:51
Thanks Keith. I think of the comment by Martin Luther “I could do no other.” Strange thing is I get these thoughts in the middle of the night when it is cold and I am cuddled up with my warm wife. I say to myself, “I am going back to sleep. It is too damn cold and dark to get up and start writing. I will do this later.” Then, I think “No, you will forget everything. Do it now.”
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 00:59:13
A beautiful and powerful tribute to our new hero. And my thanks to Jill for reposting and giving me the chance to read it. I hope we never forget this brave man who gave all to help and comfort another. In this Fascist country we now live in heroes are becoming more visible and must never be forgotten. My heart goes out to the Pretti family as well as my admiration for this wonderful martyr.
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 03:47:05
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughtful comment and your sympathy for Mr. Pretti’s family. We live in a time that I think none of us would ever dream could or would happen. Isn’t progress supposed to be linear?
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 07:12:06
Thanks, John, I so wish our collective grief could bring him back to life. Alex, Renee, we cannot, we will not forget.
Dennis
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 08:42:50
Thanks Dennis. So sad. You are right in saying our collective grief. It is surely an example of the famous poem by John Donne.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 08:02:25
It broke my heart to witness the inhumanity and injustice of these senseless killings by blood thirsty hate mongers. They are not human, they are masked monsters who have been given the right to kill with impunity! It needs to stop, ICE needs to be abolished and our country has an obligation to protect their citizens, not to terrorize them as this administration has seen fit to do.
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 08:39:37
Thanks for you comments Jeanine. We need more people to stand up and speak out. It is the only thing that is going to stop this madness. It starts at the top with Trump.
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 12:36:31
I’m so disgusted by this murder. And also disgusted by the people defending the murder. I am so angry. And there probably will be no justice for the killer. No life in prison or death penalty. So horrific that these vile killers can commit murder and get away with it!
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Jan 28, 2026 @ 14:51:20
I agree Jacob, life and the law are not always fair. The only permanent place for fair is in your heart. As long as you care about others as much as you care about yourself, you will always be fair. That IMHO will be the only “Fair” you will ever find in this world on a permanent basis. The rest of “FAIR” will be like the weather, very changeable and unpredictable.
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