A man who was shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis has been identified by his family as 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti.
He has been described as an avid outdoorsman who loved mountain biking and is understood to have joined protests after Renee Good, also 37, was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in her car earlier this month.
Conflicting accounts have emerged about the moments leading up to his death.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an agent fired in self-defence after Pretti, who they claim had a handgun, resisted attempts to disarm him. Some eyewitnesses and officials, as well as Pretti's family, have challenged that account.
Pretti worked as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital, his family said in a statement. They told the Associated Press news agency (AP) that he was upset by US President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration in the city.
Pretti's mother also said her son cared immensely about the Trump administration's rollback of environmental regulations.
He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land, Susan Pretti told AP.
She added: He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.
Pretti loved adventures with his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog Joule, who died around a year ago, AP reported. His family said he had no interaction with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets. According to AP, court records show he had no criminal record.
Pretti's parents, who live in Wisconsin, said they had also recently told their son to be careful while protesting.
We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically, his father Michael Pretti told AP.
After seeing videos suggesting their son was a domestic terrorist, Pretti's family issued a statement saying the sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.
They claimed videos showed Pretti was not holding a gun when he was tackled by federal agents.
Pretti was a Democratic voter and had taken part in the wave of street protests after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, his ex-wife told AP.
Neighbours described Pretti as quiet and warmhearted.
He's a wonderful person, Sue Gitar told AP, who lived downstairs from the nurse and said he moved into the building about three years ago. He has a great heart.
Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but he was not a loner, his neighbours said.
