Minneapolis VA hospital employees by the hundreds filled a chapel, crowded into spillover space, and peered at a livestream feed this week to mourn the loss of one of their own to gunfire from federal agents on a city street.
The outpouring of grief and admiration on Tuesday, Feb. 3, for Alex Pretti was detailed in a poignant account posted on the Department of Veterans Affairs website and pointed out that many on the hospital’s medical staff “had spent the last 10 days walking by flowers and condolence cards that had poured into the medical center from the community.”
The chapel was filled to capacity. Some workers assembled in another room of the building, and 650 more “huddled around computer screens to watch the live broadcast,” the VA’s posting read…