TT Jimmy Kimmel chokes up over ‘vile’ and ‘heartless’ ICE killing of Alex Pretti: ‘One atrocity after another’

Jimmy Kimmel is once again putting jokes aside to address tragedy in the United States.

On Monday night, the late-night host didn’t mince words while discussing the killing of 37-year-old VA nurse Alex Pretti, who died at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol officers on Saturday in Minneapolis. During his opening monologue, Kimmel choked up as he called out Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Trump administration amid the second fatal shooting by ICE in the Minnesota city.

“I spent the weekend, like probably a lot of you did — looking at my phone — and just feeling shocked and sick about what is happening in Minneapolis,” Kimmel began his monologue. “One video after another. Screaming people being torn from their families. Americans, people who were born in the United States, being pulled out of their cars for the crime of having an accent or whatever. Children, small children and babies, being tear-gassed, taken into custody, separated from their parents.”

Jimmy Kimmel during his Jan. 26, 2026, monologue on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’.

ABC

He continued, “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.”

Noting that the news out of Minneapolis has been “sickening” and “frustrating” to watch, Kimmel slammed the agency and Trump administration for shirking responsibility and painting Pretti as an armed instigator.

“They won’t even admit that it was a mistake! They say the Honda SUV Renee Good was driving was ‘weaponized,'” Kimmel continued. “They fired 10 times onto an ICU nurse, they’re telling us, ‘Well, it was justified, you know?’ Is that the law and order that you voted for, if you voted for this? Every day is a nightmare now.”

Kimmel’s show of emotion comes days after an officer was captured on camera shooting and killing Pretti, who was shown holding up a cell phone to film ICE activity in Minneapolis after helping a woman. The incident occurred two weeks after another Minnesota resident, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was shot and killed by an ICE agent while attempting to drive her vehicle away from a protest.

“We keep saying we need to find subjects that we can agree on,” Kimmel continued, “Can we agree that peaceful protestors — including moms driving SUVs on their way back after dropping their six-year-old off at school and a nurse who stepped in to protect a woman from harm — don’t deserve to be shot dead in the street by the people we are paying to protect us? Can we agree on that? Can we agree that when we see a person murdered in cold blood, that there should at least be an investigation of that?”

Later, Kimmel added, “Let’s cut the bulls— already. If that was ISIS instead of ICE, we’d be firing missiles at somebody and pledging allegiance to the flag all together right now.”

He also urged viewers to “watch every angle” of Pretti’s killing and “decide for yourself if that’s making America great.”

Kimmel then got choked up while speaking directly to those on the front lines of the conflict, adding, “To the people of Minneapolis — to the Pretti family and the Good family and these people who were looking out for their neighbors — we want you to know that we are with you and you are not alone.”

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Kimmel later closed his monologue by honoring Pretti, “the man [U.S. Homeland Security advisor] Stephen Miller referred to as a would-be assassin.”

Fighting back tears, Kimmel told his audience, “Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse who treated veterans, which is about as patriotic as it gets.”

He then played a video of Pretti honoring one of his deceased patients in 2024. During his tribute to the late veteran, Pretti says, “Today we remember that freedom is not free. We have to work at it, nurture it, protect it and even sacrifice for it. May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom.”

After the video, a still-emotional Kimmel concluded by saying, “Alex Pretti, may he rest in peace.”

Watch Kimmel address the tragedy and share footage of Pretti above.