In a stunning development that has reignited public interest in the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, authorities have revealed a previously unknown link between three individuals long thought to be unrelated: Renée Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, and Keith Porter Jr.

All three attended the University of Minnesota between 2006 and 2010, where they met and became acquainted through a student club focused on social justice and community organizing. Pretti and Good were classmates during their undergraduate years, while Porter, an upperclassman at the time, was an active member of the same group. The connection remained dormant for more than 15 years until police obtained a search warrant for Pretti’s phone following his death on January 24, 2026.

The breakthrough came from a group chat titled “Kingfield Signal ICE Watch Group,” recovered from Pretti’s device. The encrypted chat, active since at least mid-2025, included Pretti, Good, Porter, and several other local activists. Messages show the group coordinating “ICE watch” shifts — monitoring and documenting federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis neighborhoods, particularly around schools, hospitals, and community centers. Participants shared real-time locations of ICE activity, discussed legal observer protocols, and exchanged information about rights during detentions.

Investigators say the chat reveals that all three individuals were aware of — and actively participated in — plans to observe and potentially disrupt the January 24 CBP raid that ended in Pretti’s death. While the messages do not explicitly call for violence, they contain repeated references to “confronting” agents, “physically blocking” vehicles if necessary, and “not backing down no matter what.” One message from Good to the group, sent two days before the incident, reads: “If they come for our neighbors, we stand in the way. No retreat.”

Renée Good, 37, was arrested the following day and charged with assault on a federal officer, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to interfere with law enforcement after video showed her vehicle accelerating toward agents during the operation. Keith Porter Jr., also 37, was detained for questioning but released pending further investigation after his phone was found to contain similar chat logs.

Pretti’s death was ruled a homicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, caused by multiple gunshot wounds. Bystander and bodycam footage shows Pretti already restrained face-down on the ground when at least 10 rounds were fired in under five seconds. DHS maintains the agents acted in self-defense after Pretti allegedly reached for a weapon, but Pretti’s family and civil rights attorneys insist he was unarmed and compliant at the moment of the shooting.

The discovery of the “Kingfield Signal ICE Watch Group” has shifted the narrative from a possible isolated confrontation to evidence of coordinated activism that may have escalated into a deadly encounter. Civil rights groups have condemned the use of lethal force and called for an independent investigation, while law enforcement unions defend the agents, arguing they faced a credible threat.

Pretti’s parents, Michael and Laura Pretti, have publicly stated their son was a dedicated nurse who opposed aggressive immigration enforcement but was never violent. “Alex was there to bear witness, not to fight,” Michael Pretti said. “He believed in peaceful observation. He didn’t deserve this.”

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is now reviewing the case, including the chat logs, bodycam footage, and witness statements. Protests continue in Minneapolis, with demonstrators demanding the release of unedited video and charges against the agents involved.

As the investigation deepens, the “Kingfield Signal ICE Watch Group” has become the central piece of evidence linking three former college acquaintances in a tragedy that has exposed deep divisions over immigration enforcement, protest rights, and police accountability.

The truth behind what happened on that Minneapolis street remains contested, but one fact is now undeniable: the three people once connected by a college club are now forever linked by a single, fatal night.