Since federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, the social media platform X has been flooded with right-wing disinformation about the man. That’s not surprising, since X became ground zero for fake news after Elon Musk bought the site in late 2022. But what’s known about the garbage being pushed on social media today is that it feels desperate. They tried to tarnish Pretti’s life and legacy. And it just doesn’t work.

Pretti is, by all accounts, a wonderful person who cares about his community. She is an ICU nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Minneapolis and a legal gun owner with no criminal record. Pretti is a man whose image is hard to tarnish. But disinformation agents are doing their best to do that.

Take, for example, X’s claim that Pretti was fired three months ago from the hospital where he worked. Screenshots from what appears to be a news article have circulated, reading“Hospital Director Speaks Out: Former Employee Alex Pretti Fired Three Months Amid Multiple Complaints of Misconduct.”

Where did this supposed article come from? This can be found on a website called BuzzReport247 just doing shit. The article includes photos that show Pretti in a dress, but they are clearly not her, racking up 1.2 million views at the time of this writing. And the article itself falsely claims that he committed “perverse actions toward vulnerable people under hospital care.” It goes on and on, making false claims that are not worth repeating here. This is stupid and completely made up.

It’s honestly one of the laziest, dumbest hit-pieces we’ve ever seen. However, some people in X seem to believe that this is true. And there is no community note at the time of this writing pointing out to users that this is useless. Other articles on BuzzReport247 are clear AI slop with funny headlines like: “THE OLD JANITOR THEY’VE GONE: How a $64 Million Apache Helicopter, a Dirty Mop, and a Pair of Hidden Wings Reveal the Arrogance of a Captain Who Thinks He Knows It All, Only He’s Crushed in Front of Everyone, He’s the Only One Crushed by Face it. Shame on you.”

That mouth. It’s just bottom of the barrel disinformation and low-information voter baiting.

Another X post with over 3 million views from an account called Donnie Cope claims that Pretti’s parents said that their son had quit his job at the hospital and that he was exhibiting unusual behavior. The source of the claims seems to be a Facebook page called “Male Thing” there was also a quote allegedly from Pretti’s father about him recently joining a radical group. But this was also complete nonsense. There was nothing true about the post.

In fact, Pretti’s parents are supportive of their son and saddened by his death at the hands of Trump’s secret police force.

“Alex was a kind soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also for the American veterans he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital,” his parents’ statement, according to CBS News. “Alex wanted to make a difference in the world. Unfortunately he couldn’t be with us to see his impact. I don’t take the term hero lightly. However, his last thought and action was to protect a woman.

“The hurtful lies being told about our son by the administration are despicable and despicable,” the statement continued. “Alex was clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murder and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and raised his left hand above his head while trying to protect the woman being pushed by ICE while being pepper sprayed. Please tell the truth about our son. He is a good person.”

The painful lies they allude to include statements from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who called Pretti a domestic terrorist and claimed he wanted to “massacre” federal agents. Statements from DHS, apparently led by Stephen Milleralso tried to insist that Pretti came brandishing a gun. That’s not true, according to half a dozen videos viewed where Pretti never used his weapon. There was also no mention of Pretti attacking the officers or pulling his gun on initial DHS report of the shooting, according to NBC News.

Another tweet, clearly inspired by X’s disinformation that spread on Tuesday, attempted to insist that he had joined a left-wing group to inflict violence against ICE.

“So now we know Alex Pretti is NOT a nurse and NOT a peaceful bystander. He quit his job months ago to join an Antifa cell, and was involved in a violent confrontation with ICE a week or so ago,” tweeted Trump ally Mike Crispi read.

“This is why we never give an inch about these things. It’s the same story EVERY time the facts come out,” Crispi continued.

The “violent confrontation” actually refers to an incident first reported by CNN on Tuesday that said Pretti had a rib broken by ICE a weeks before his death. The circumstances were very similar to the day he was killed, where he did not resort to violence and was instead beaten by federal agents. But those facts don’t stop a bullshit social media narrative on the right trying to tarnish the character of a dead man.

It’s not just Noem and social media. Right-wing media like Fox News are playing up the idea that Pretti didn’t have his ID when he was killed on the street. They pointed out that while he had a permit to carry his firearm, permit holders in Minnesota are required to present their ID when they do so. For starters, we just have to take DHS’s word for the idea that Pretti doesn’t have an ID, and they lie all the time. Pretti’s gun was also improperly recovered as evidence, according to a new report Tuesday provided to Congress. But even if Pretti wasn’t carrying his ID at the time, do gun rights advocates want to argue that it’s legal to kill a gun owner for that reason?

Alex Pretti was brutally beaten and then shot by at least two masked federal agents for simply recording on a public street. There is no evidence that he did anything other than try to help a woman off the ground who was being brutally attacked by a federal agent. Then he paid with his life when the agents fired even less ten shots him, three hit him in the back, according to a doctor who was at the scene.

Pretti is a VA nurse who was shot in the back for trying to save her neighbors from ICE. And he is always slandered. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to work for most people. But it remains to be seen if the shift in vibe will result in positive change on the ground. Two Republicans, Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, became the first in their party to call on Kristi Noem to resign on Tuesday. And the polls don’t bode well for Trump’s efforts.

Forty-four percent of Americans support abolishing ICE, with only 41% opposed, according to a YouGov poll from Saturday, the day Pretti was killed. It seems like a safe bet that such a poll would be even more skewed against ICE now, after a few days of people learning more.

The federal occupation of Minneapolis continues, and ICE’s reign of terror continues in cities that don’t care much today. But decent people across the country should be cautiously optimistic that things are changing. Renee Good and Alex Pretti are martyrs, but the people of Minneapolis have shown themselves to be able to stand up to Trump’s goons to protect their community. The tide seems to be turning, and the bad guys are on their back foot.