Thousands of New Yorkers, including a large contingent of nurses, gathered outside the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Manhattan for a vigil for Alex Pretti, the second person to be gunned down by federal agents amid the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The massive crowd — estimated at up to 2,0 00 people — gathered outside the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System on E. 23rd St. near First Ave. in Kips Bay around 5 p.m. People attend a vigil and memorial for Alex Pretti outside the Manhattan VA Hospital on Thursday, January 29, 2026, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News) Members of the crowd lit candles and carried signs that read, “Justice for Alex Pretti,” “Love melts ICE” and “Abolish ICE.” A statement by Pretti’s parents was read aloud. People attend a vigil and memorial for Alex Pretti outside the Manhattan VA Hospital on Thursday, January 29, 2026, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News) Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, was gunned down by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. People attend a vigil and memorial for Alex Pretti outside the Manhattan VA Hospital on Thursday, January 29, 2026, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News) Video from the scene showed Pretti trying to assist a woman after an ICE agent shoved her to the ground, then being pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the pavement by several agents, one of them removing a gun from Pretti’s waistband, before two agents opened fire on him. ...read more read less