Welch Joins Illinois Caregivers at Vigil Honoring VA Nurse Killed by Trump Agents
CHICAGO – House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch joined Illinois nurses and advocates this week at a rally honoring the memory of Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs nurse executed by Donald Trump’s agents while he was working to protect his neighbors in Minnesota last weekend.
“While most of us did not have the opportunity to know Alex Pretti, he showed us the kind of person he was. He was someone who would stand up for his neighbors. He is someone who would stand up for democracy. And that’s why none of us can sit back and watch what happened to him occur in our country,” Welch said. “None of the people killed by ICE were given the opportunity to prove their citizenship. None were given a background check to prove they followed the law. None were given even a shred of due process—they were simply shot. That’s not an America we will accept. We’ll continue to work for the country Alex Pretti stood up for: a country where we protect our neighbors, a country where we’re free to speak out and peacefully assemble, and a country where all people are treated with dignity.”
Welch joined National Nurses United and SEIU Healthcare at a candlelight vigil for Pretti Wednesday in front of the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago. A native of the Chicago suburbs and an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis, Pretti came to the aid of a person being attacked by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. Agents then shoved Pretti to the ground, pepper sprayed him, and shot him multiple times—even as Pretti was pinned down and posing no risk.
Just days before Pretti’s murder, Welch and House Democrats took to the House floor to read the names of more people killed by Trump’s agents—including Silverio Villegas Gonzalez who was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Ill. In response to this string of killings across the country, Welch and his colleagues voted to demand the resignation or impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem.
