Outside the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital in Aurora on Wednesday night, soft light from battery-powered candles illuminated hundreds of mourning faces. 

The crowd of nurses and other community members gathered to remember Alex Pretti, a VA nurse, who was killed on Saturday in Minneapolis during an encounter with federal agents.

“In this circle of light, we must hold his memory dear,” said Neil Rudis, who spoke as a member of National Nurses United, a large union that helped organize the event. 

Two federal officers fired shots during the encounter that killed Pretti, a Customs and Border Protection official told Congress in a notice sent Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

The Department of Homeland Security originally claimed Pretti approached agents armed with a handgun. The statement did not specify whether the gun was in the man’s hands or merely on his body. 

Video reviewed by The Gazette shows Pretti holding a cellphone, rather than a gun, as he tries to intervene with a federal agent pushing a woman to the ground. 

The agent pepper-sprays Pretti, and, soon after, at least five agents attempt to subdue Pretti, according to the review. While Pretti is on the ground, one agent appears to remove Pretti’s weapon from his waistband and away from the scene. A different agent fires multiple shots seconds later.

Minnesota officials have described Pretti as a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.

His fellow VA health care workers remembered the intensive care nurse as a deeply compassionate person who wanted to make a difference at the end of his life, Rudis said. He was participating in protests after Renee Nicole Good, a former Colorado Springs resident, was shot earlier in January by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Pretti’s parents now live in Colorado and had encouraged him to be cautious in his activism, The Associated Press reported.

The somber gathering, marked by tears, song and hugs, was a departure from some of the recent large political protests centered on politics and anti-President Donald Trump sentiment. Most signs read “nurses care, no exceptions” and “nurses care for all people,” and speakers encouraged attendees not to give in to despair. 

Rabbi Michael Kengmana encouraged the crowd to come together in their grief over a world that he said is falling apart. 

“It is so painful to grieve this world alone,” Kengmana said. 

Not all VA workers in Colorado could make it to the memorial, including Tiffany Roman, a leader with the American Federation of Government Employees who lives in Pueblo, who said she expected Pretti’s actions would continue to inspire fellow union members to fight against injustice.

“Alex’s selfless actions will never be forgotten,” she said.

Many VA employees have faced cutbacks that have made their day-to-day lives harder, and oftentimes workers who serve others have to set aside their feelings to be effective, which can lead to a sense of isolation, Kengmana said. 

But in the grassy field, as many strangers stood shoulder-to-shoulder, they spoke together, “There will be change,” led by Bernard Humbles, who leads the AFGE District 13, an area that covers Colorado and other states. 

“It is only going to take us to make change,” he said.