Amanda Gorman has penned a new poem in remembrance of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis on Saturday, sparking outrage across the nation.
The new poem refers to the killing as a murder and emphasizes the moral contradictions amid a nationwide conservative push for immigration enforcement, even as federal officials under President Donald Trump resort to violence against peaceful American civilians.
“Our greatest threat isn't the outsiders among us, but those among us who never look within,” reads one line of the poem from the Catholic-raised Gorman.
“Fear not the those without papers, but those without conscience.”
— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) January 25, 2026
The poem is only the latest from Gorman on the ongoing crisis in Minnesota, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other federal officers have undertaken Operation Metro Surge since early December. The ongoing effort began with the federal targeting of Somali immigrants in the Twin Cities.
Various constitutional violations have been reported in the weeks since, including officers’ harassment of protestors and observers as well as the detention of U.S. citizens. The operation’s raids have also led to thousands of arrests—many of them connected to charges quickly dismissed by judges in federal court.
Earlier this month, Gorman’s viral poem “For Renee Nicole Good” lamented the killing of a 37-year-old American mother of three who was fatally shot in her car by an ICE agent, who claimed she was attempting to attack him with her car. Video evidence in the killings of Good and Pretti contradict public statements from federal officers and Trump White House officials.
Change is only possible,
& all the greater,
When the labour
& bitter anger of our neighbors
Is moved by the love
& better angels of our nature.
(From “For Renee Nicole Good” by Amanda Gorman)
State and local law enforcement officials in Minnesota say the Trump administration has been uncooperative in requests for information on Pretti's shooting, which like Good’s was captured on camera from multiple angles.
Video analysis appears to show that Pretti was armed but was not holding his gun or threatening officers at the time of his encounter with several Border Patrol agents. He had been recording the officers before attempting to assist a fellow observer after they were pushed by an officer and sprayed with chemical agents.
After one officer removed what was later said to be a gun from Pretti’s waist area, a second officer began opening fire on Pretti’s back before he fell to the ground. Several more rounds were fired into his motionless body from a distance as another agent appeared to clap in approval. Pretti reportedly died at the scene after civilian medics attempted life-saving measures.
As of Sunday afternoon, neither Border Patrol nor the White House has released the name of the officers involved in the shooting, which took place just after 9am CT. Border Patrol’s commander, the Catholic-raised Gregory Bovino, said that the unnamed agent is an eight-year veteran of the agency and stated—without clear evidence—that Pretti planned to “massacre” law enforcement.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who has faced increasing criticism over her part in escalating immigration enforcement overreaches, said on Saturday that her department will oversee an investigation into Pretti’s death. As of Sunday afternoon, Noem, Bovino, and FBI director Kash Patel have already publicly blamed Pretti for the fatal shooting—as have President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Noem, Miller, and Trump have variously described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist.”
Several affidavits concerning Pretti’s killing have been filed in Minnesota court, including a doctor and witness at the scene who said he was initially prevented by federal agents from providing treatment to Pretti. A second witness—who recorded clear footage of the incident and said Pretti never brandished a gun—noted that officers were seeking her whereabouts and that she feared for her safety.
Both the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis have released statements concerning Pretti’s killing, emphasizing human dignity and the need for “calm” and “peace”—though not directly mentioning Border Patrol or the video evidence.
“I prayerfully urge calm, restraint, and respect for human life in Minneapolis, and all those places where peace is threatened,” said USCCB president Archbishop Paul Coakley.
“As a nation we must come together in dialogue, turning away from dehumanizing rhetoric and acts which threaten human life.”
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
