‘Absolutely shameful’: Business and tech leaders react to Saturday’s fatal immigration shooting

Microsoft's chief scientific officer posted a screenshot of a statement from Alex Pretti's parents with the caption "Anguish and pursuit of truth" on X on Sunday.

Horvitz also wrote on X, "Values, service, and character," in response to a video posted by CBS News of Pretti reading a final salute to a veteran.

Former Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun replied "Murderers" to footage of the shooting circulating on Saturday. He has since reposted anti-ICE tweets and pushed back against users who criticize his stance.

LeCun has regularly shared posts critical of the Trump administration on social media.

Paul Graham, cofounder of startup accelerator Y Combinator, wrote in a post on X on Saturday: "If someone had predicted before the last election that if Trump won, federal officers would be shooting Americans in the streets, he'd have been dismissed as an alarmist."

Anthropic cofounder Chris Olah wrote on X that he typically doesn't comment on politics, but recent events "shock the conscience."

"My deep loyalty is to the principles of classical liberal democracy: freedom of speech, the rule of law, the dignity of the human person. I immigrated to the United States — and eventually cofounded Anthropic here — believing it was a pillar of these principles," he wrote, adding: "I feel very sad today."

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce distributed a letter on Sunday signed by more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies, including professional sports teams.

Among the signatories were Target CEO Michael Fiddelke, 3M CEO William Brown, Allianz Life Insurance Company CEO Jasmine Jirele, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening, and UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley, among many others.

The letter called for an "immediate de-escalation of tensions" and for state, local, and federal officials to "work together to find real solutions."

"In this difficult moment for our community, we call for peace and focused cooperation among local, state, and federal leaders to achieve a swift and durable solution that enables families, businesses, our employees, and communities across Minnesota to resume our work to build a bright and prosperous future," the letter says.

The shooting divided leaders even within the same VC firm. Khosla Ventures' Keith Rabois posted on X "no law enforcement has shot an innocent person. illegals are committing violent crimes everyday." Rabois is a self-proclaimed contrarian whose political opinions have courted controversy in recent years.

Two colleagues — Ethan Choi and Vinod Khosla — disagreed with Rabois on X. Khosla described the video of Pretti's death as "macho ICE vigilantes running amuck empowered by a conscious-less administration."

Choi said Rabois' post did not represent the VC firm's view. "What happened in Minnesota is plain wrong. Don't know how you could really see it differently. Sad to see a person's life taken unnecessarily," Choi wrote.

The hedge-fund billionaire, who supported Trump in the 2024 election, called for calm in an X post on Saturday. Ackman said that the United States had reached a point where "there are only two sides to every issue and every incident."

"Individuals are 'convicted' of serious crimes in the headlines, by politicians appealing to their base, and ultimately in the minds of the public, or they are exonerated, before all of the facts are in and a detailed investigation has been completed," he wrote. "This is not good for America."

Two hours later, in another post on X, Ackman laid the blame on Minnesota's governor, Tim Walz.

"It is almost as if the governor of Minnesota called for protesters to intervene in ICE enforcements in an incendiary manner," he said, tagging Walz. "Inciting the people to rise up against law enforcement is guaranteed to end badly, and now we have seen the tragic consequences."

Ackman later donated $10,000 to a GoFundMe set up for Pretti's family after being asked to do so in a post on X by Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Ackman wrote in a reply on X: "Done. That said, I don't agree with the gofundme that he is an American hero, but his loss is tragic for him and his family."

Like Ackman, billionaire LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman is perpetually online, posting frequently on social media. The Democratic donor was largely quiet this weekend, though he has reposted comments from other people, including one that called ICE "out of control."

In another post that Hoffman amplified, an X user called out "chronically online tech leaders" for suddenly falling quiet. Another X user called on business and tech leaders to use their platform to stand up to the Trump administration and its immigration enforcement tactics, to which Hoffman replied, "It's time for all Americans to do so."

James Dyett, the head of global business at OpenAI, called on leaders in the tech and business communities to use their influence to criticize the Trump administration's immigration policies.

"There is far more outrage from tech leaders over a wealth tax than masked ICE agents terrorizing communities and executing civilians in the streets," Dyer wrote on X. "Tells you what you need to know about the values of our industry."

Jeff Dean, Google DeepMind's chief scientist, wrote in response to a video of the shooting circulating on X: "This is absolutely shameful."

"Agents of a federal agency unnecessarily escalating, and then executing a defenseless citizen whose offense appears to be using his cellphone camera," he wrote. "Every person, regardless of political affiliation, should be denouncing this."

Minneapolis police confirmed that Alex Pretti, who was filming federal agents when they wrestled him to the ground, was legally carrying a gun.

Border Patrol officials said Pretti had threatened them with the gun, but multiple videos of the incident show that agents had already disarmed and subdued Pretti when he was shot.

Jason Calacanis, a prominent investor and entrepreneur who is these days perhaps most known as one of the hosts of the popular "All-In" podcast, blamed the country's political leaders in a post on X on Sunday.

"Once again, I will remind everyone that our leaders are failing us," he wrote. "True leadership would be to calm this situation down by telling these non-peaceful protesters to stay home while recalling these inadequately-trained agents."

He later posted that "all of this violence" could be avoided by fining businesses that hire immigrants who are not in the country legally.

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio posted an X article on Monday, reflecting on a book he'd recently written. Current events made Dalio feel like he was "watching a movie that I have seen many times in history," he wrote.

Minneapolis exhibited signs of stages five and six of his "Big Cycle," he wrote: the pre-breakdown and breakdown of existing orders.

"The United States is now a tinderbox," Dalio wrote. "The world saw the killings in Minneapolis of two opponents to Trump's ICE initiative and is now watching to see which side will back down."

Garry Tan, the CEO of startup accelerator Y Combinator, said in a post on X that the "Minneapolis tragedy is truly sad," and that he wanted "order and peace."

The often-outspoken YC CEO, who had faced some criticism for posting about coding instead of politics in recent days, wrote that he was staying focused on San Francisco, where he has a strong political presence.

"Remind yourself politics is local not national," he wrote. "I'm going to keep fighting for my city."

OpenAI's robotics head, Caitlin Kalinowski, responded on X, citing the Constitution.

The OpenAI staffer referenced the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 14th amendments, which include the right to protest and assembly, the right to bear arms, and the right to due process under the law.

Before working at OpenAI, Kalinowski was Meta's head of AR Glasses Hardware.

David Marcus, the cofounder and CEO of crypto payments company Lightspark, wrote on X in response to the incident: "The number of people who can hold two thoughts at the same time is dwindling at a dangerous rate."

"It's not because these anti-ICE protests are mostly inorganic and designed to generate this chaos, or that protesters show up with loaded guns that you can't also be totally appalled by citizens being shot dead on our streets," added Marcus, who is also a former president of PayPal.

"Let's just remember we're all Americans for a second."

Cristina Cordova, the chief operating officer at Linear, a product management software company, called the incident "indefensible" in a post on X.

"The victim's legally owned handgun was removed from the scene, and then ICE agents shot him multiple times. It's far from law enforcement — it's just murder," she wrote.

"Those who defend this don't care about law or order. It's about money, power, and protecting an executive branch that's already been bought and paid for."

Kath Korevec, the director of product at Google Labs, has called on X users to support their local immigration organizations.

"I can't go to Minneapolis. And it's only a matter of time before they show up in force here in the Bay Area. So here's what I'm doing to help my neighbors prepare," Korevec wrote in a post on X on Sunday.

She said in the post that she is researching, donating, and offering help to organizations that support immigrants.

Korevec said that she is calling her "congressmen and women and asking them not to approve ICE funding without major reform to how the organization is run."

"And I'm paying attention. Not looking away, even when it's hard," she added. "If you're able to do any of this where you live, now is the time."

Josh Miller, the cofounder and CEO of The Browser Company, wrote on X that he has been hesitant to speak on politics — but that this moment was no longer political.

"It is about something more fundamental," he wrote. "It is about what America stands for. Call it morals, call it decency, whatever word resonates most with you."

Miller wrote that the government "executed a man," and that he was "deeply sad for his parents."

Before The Browser Company, Miller sold his startup, Branch, to Facebook. He then left Facebook for the federal government, becoming the White House's first director of product under former President Barack Obama.

Google DeepMind's Dean thanked Miller for speaking up. Miller responded: "10 shots in the back of an American citizen who worked as an ICU nurse at the veterans hospital in town. While they knew they were being filmed in broad daylight. And our Secretary of War cheers them on from Twitter. Something is not right."

In a post on X, the General Catalyst CEO said that this was "not politics as usual."

"As investors, innovators, leaders, and citizens, we need to come together to preserve our democracy, the rights set forth in our country's Constitution, and our shared humanity," he wrote.

He added, "What we are seeing in Minnesota is a threat to those core tenets and to the promise of America."

Lieb, a group partner at Y Combinator, wrote on X: "Each side is going to see what they want to see, I guess. I know what I see, which is another citizen killed for no good reason."

He reshared a video analysis of the shooting, showing an immigration agent disarming Pretti before shots are fired.

"What I'd hope everyone can agree on: our government is deliberately choosing to put citizens in this situation. It needs to stop. They work for us," Lied added.

The "Shark Tank" investor and Reddit cofounder wrote on X: "I'm old enough to remember when an American's right to bear arms—even while protesting—was something the right all believed the federal government must never infringe upon."

"ICE shot a man in the back while he was restrained. We need our leaders to lead right now—deescalate," he added.

The founder of VC firm Moxxie Ventures said the "courage gap" was striking.

"A poet and a nurse lost their lives protesting ICE brutality, while those with power & money, from Silicon Valley to Washington, stay silent or contort the narrative," she wrote.

Stanton also shared a link to a movement called ICE Out Tech, which asks tech CEOs to engage with the White House, cancel ICE contracts, and speak publicly against ICE violence.

Whittaker, the president of Signal, made several back-to-back posts on X about the shooting.

"Masked agents of the US state are executing people in the streets and powerful leaders are openly lying to cover for them," she wrote in one. "To everyone in my industry who's ever claimed to value freedom—draw on the courage of your convictions and stand up."

Bannon, a founding partner at VC firm Fifty Years, has been posting on X about the ICE shooting throughout the weekend.

"It's our constitutional right as Americans to show up and record the police in a public place whenever, wherever we want. Call that "harassment" if you like. I call it freedom," he wrote in one post. "It's also a constitutional right to do so armed. Neither justifies the state killing its citizens."

In a separate post, he wrote: "Tech founders wondering what they can do about this administration's cruelty: Don't pitch the firms that support it."

O'Farrell, who until last year was an Andreessen Horowitz general partner, called out his former colleagues for their reactions to the ICE shooting.

"Wondering how the eager tech enablers of this regime, including some of my former VC friends and partners, are rationalizing this atrocity. Just the latest in a year of horrors," he wrote on X. " Is all the crypto and AI money in the world really worth this?"

He has spoken out against Elon Musk's role in President Donald Trump's reelection and called for the defunding of ICE.

Serial tech founder Antonio Bustamante wrote on X: "We can't stay silent. This is not right. It's abhorrent, and it's by design. ICE's goal isn't immigration enforcement: it's fear tactics, and it's the destruction of peace in a state where welfare actually works."

He added: "Fascism is disgusting in all of its forms."

The Silicon Valley entrepreneur and angel investor wrote a post criticizing tech leaders who have supported ICE's actions.

"It's disappointing many of tech's most notable voices are silent (or supportive of) what is currently happening in Minnesota," he wrote.

He added: "If you don't believe supporting these principles are just as important as supporting good regulatory policy on AI and crypto, them you aren't really a great tech leader."

Melinda French Gates, a philanthropist and one of the richest people in the world, wrote on X on Tuesday: "The deaths of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti are unconscionable and weighing heavily on so many of our hearts."

"No one in the United States should ever have to fear losing their life for taking peaceful, principled action in support of their beliefs," she added.

"Our country is not our government—our country is us, we the people. For 250 years, we have been bound together by bedrock values, the rule of law, and inalienable rights. There is nothing more American than exercising our rights and holding our government accountable. Our democracy depends on it," she wrote.