Jimmy Kimmel struggled to keep his emotions in check while reflecting on the death of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by ICE in Minneapolis.
The late night host took a serious tone for most of his Monday night monologue, imploring his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” viewers to speak out against the violence.
“It’s sickening to watch and it’s frustrating to watch,” a heated Kimmel said at the top of the show. “It’s like we’re all being forced to play a game that has no rules. They just make up the rules as they go along. We see these videos in which we clearly see one of our fellow Americans executed by ICE. And they won’t even admit that it was a mistake.”
He continued: “I mean they say the Honda SUV Renee Good was driving was weaponized. They say the gun Alex Pretti had a license to carry in an open carry state — many of these same people screamed very loudly about when it was Kyle Rittenhouse carrying the gun — a gun that Alex Pretti did not even draw, did not touch. A gun that was taken from him by one of the agents before he was shot dead by the other ones.”
Kimmel was in disbelief over the Trump administration trying to justify Pretti, an ICU nurse, being shot multiple times.
“Is that the law and order that you voted for, if you voted for this? Every day is a nightmare now,” he sounded off. “How does this end? What’s the plan here? Is the plan to just keep doing this in every city that didn’t vote for Donald Trump? Does anyone on any side believe this is good leadership? We keep saying we need to find subjects that we can agree on. Can we agree that peaceful protesters, 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?”
After calling on those on the right to show “courage” and “common sense” in order to make changes in their party, Kimmel took a moment to express his condolences to the Pretti family and the people of Minneapolis — choking back tears in the process.
“To the people of Minneapolis, to the Pretti family and the Good family, these people who were looking out for their neighbors, we want you to know that we are with you and you are not alone,” the late night host said, garnering a round of applause from his studio audience.
Kimmel found himself tearful again later on his monologue, when he took a moment to share footage of Pretti giving a speech to commemorate one of his late patients.
“I want to leave you with this. The man Stephen Miller referred to as a would-be assassin, Alex Pretti, was an ICU nurse who treated veterans, which is about as patriotic I think as it gets,” an emotional Kimmel said. “And the video of Alex that I would like you to see, of this man they called a domestic terrorist, is from 2024, in which Alex honored one of his patients who passed away, a veteran named Terrance Lee Randolph.”
In the footage, Pretti can be seen honoring Randolph’s “dedication and selfless service.”
As the clip concluded, Kimmel stated, “Alex Pretti, may he rest in peace.”
Watch his full monologue above.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
