What official statements has the Minneapolis VA issued about Alex Pretti’s employment status?
Executive summary
The Minneapolis VA’s employment connection to Alex Pretti has been repeatedly referenced by federal and media sources: VA Secretary Doug Collins publicly identified Pretti as a nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center [1], and multiple news outlets report that Pretti was an ICU registered nurse at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System based on family, colleagues and licensing records [2] [3] [4]. However, among the sources provided there is no direct, standalone press release from the Minneapolis VA Health Care System itself quoted; the publicly cited VA confirmation comes from VA Secretary Doug Collins and from union statements representing VA employees [1] [5].
1. VA leadership publicly affirmed Pretti was a VA nurse
The clearest official confirmation in the supplied reporting came from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ leadership: Secretary Doug Collins posted that Alex Pretti was a nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, a statement picked up and cited by national outlets [1]. This assertion by the VA secretary has been widely repeated in subsequent coverage as the principal official acknowledgment tying Pretti to the Minneapolis VA [1] [5].
2. Union and colleagues framed the VA employment in defense of Pretti’s reputation
AFGE Local 3669, the union representing workers at the Minneapolis VA, issued strong statements identifying Pretti as a VA employee and condemning administration rhetoric that sought to characterize him as a criminal, while calling for an independent investigation into his killing [5]. Media accounts also quote coworkers and union leaders describing Pretti as a dedicated ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA, reinforcing the VA-employment claim through workplace testimony rather than a separate institutional press release [3] [6].
3. Media corroboration: licensing records and family statements used to confirm VA employment
Several outlets--including People, BBC, The Guardian and Military.com--reported that Pretti was a registered nurse working in the Minneapolis VA ICU, citing his nursing license, family statements and colleagues as sources of verification [2] [4] [3] [7]. These reports treat the VA employment as established fact, often pointing to a Jan. 2021 nursing license and his coworkers’ accounts as corroboration [2] [4].
4. Claims that he was fired or employed elsewhere were debunked by fact-checking outlets
A wave of viral claims alleging Pretti had been fired from a non-VA facility (Lakeshore Medical Center) and accused of misconduct originated from a fabricated website; multiple fact-checking and reporting outlets debunked those allegations and reiterated that Pretti worked at the Minneapolis VA at the time of his death [8] [9] [10]. Those debunking pieces emphasize that the outlandish claims traced back to a fictitious “Dr. Elena Vasquez” and an invented report [8] [10].
5. Gaps and limits in the public record from the Minneapolis VA itself
The reporting provided contains repeated references to VA leadership and union statements, but does not reproduce a separate, direct press release from the Minneapolis VA Health Care System itself confirming employment; one national outlet cautioned that authorities had not formally confirmed all background details early on [11]. Thus, while VA Secretary Doug Collins and union leaders officially linked Pretti to the Minneapolis VA [1] [5], the supplied sources do not include an independent, on-the-record statement issued specifically by the Minneapolis VA Health Care System’s communications office.
6. Political context shaped how the VA tie was used and challenged
Officials and political actors immediately leveraged Pretti’s VA employment in competing narratives: some administration figures used his federal-employee status in attempts to justify enforcement actions, prompting rebukes from the union and veterans’ groups who accused the VA secretary of politicizing the death [5] [6]. Fact-checkers and mainstream outlets responded by clarifying employment facts and exposing fabricated alternative histories, underlining how the VA affiliation became both a factual anchor and a political flashpoint [8] [9] [10].