Jimmy Kimmel was overcome with emotion on Monday night talking about the death of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti.
Pretti was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, just three weeks after they fatally shot mother-of-three Renee Good in the same city.
Kimmel began his monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday: “I spent the weekend like probably a lot of you did, looking at my phone and just feeling shocked and sick at what’s happening in Minneapolis.
“... Just one atrocity after another being committed by this gang of poorly trained, shamefully led, mask-wearing goons. And that is what they are: They’re goons committing vile, heartless, and even criminal acts. It’s sickening to watch, and it’s frustrating to watch. It’s like we’re all being forced to play a game that has no rules. They just make up the rules as they go along.
“We see these videos — in which we clearly see one of our fellow Americans executed by ICE — and they won’t even admit that it was a mistake! They say the Honda SUV Renee Good was driving was ‘weaponized’, they say the gun Alex Pretti had a license to carry in an open carry state — a right many of these same people screamed very loud about when it was Kyle Rittenhouse carrying the gun — a gun that Alex Pretti did not even draw, did not touch, a gun that was taken from him by one of the agents — before he was shot dead by the other ones. They fired 10 times onto an ICU nurse, they’re telling us, ‘well, it was justified, you know?’”
The federal government — and President Donald Trump — claims that Pretti approached agents with the intent to carry out an attack with a pistol, which they claim was recovered from the scene of the incident.
They have not provided evidence that he ever drew the weapon, and have declined to answer questions offering an in-depth timeline of how the confrontation unfolded.
Carrying a licensed handgun with a permit is legal in Minnesota.
“Is that the law and order that you voted for, if you voted for this?” Kimmel went on to ask.
“Every day is a nightmare now. My wife and I have family in Minneapolis. They’re afraid to take their kids to school. They’re afraid to go to work. And I can only imagine how people who aren’t white feel about this!
“How does this end? What’s the plan here? Is the plan to just keep doing this in every city that didn’t vote for Donald Trump? Does anyone on any side believe this is good leadership?”
Kimmel closed his monologue by paying tribute to Pretti, “the man Stephen Miller referred to as a would-be assassin.”
The host visibly fought back tears, saying, “Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse who treated veterans, which is about as patriotic as it gets,” before playing a video of Pretti honoring a patient of his, a veteran, who had passed away. He ended his speech with “Alex Pretti, may he rest in peace.”
On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert similarly criticized the Department of Homeland Security’s characterization of the incident.
“Masked government agents disarmed an American citizen and then executed him in the streets. That’s what it looks like,” he said Monday. “They want you to believe that something didn’t happen when we all saw it happen with our own eyes. It’s like claiming that Alan Cumming doesn’t serve looks on The Traitors, when there’s plenty of evidence that he feeds us.”
He continued: “This administration has no idea the mistake they just made. They’re messing with nurses now. They’re underpaid, overworked and they’re the ones who have to deal with Dr. Robby’s inner demons. You stupid old men really wanna cross the people in charge with putting in your catheters? Believe me, they can do it the lubricated way or the unlubricated way. You just made your choice.”
