Misidentification sparks anti-LGBTQ rhetoric around shooting of Minnesota nurse
- Published on January 29, 2026 at 19:19
- 5 min read
- By AFP USA
The death of Alex Pretti sparked outrage nationwide after he was shot at point-blank range on January 24, 2026 by federal agents in Minnesota. At the same time, supporters of armed immigration forces in Minneapolis circulated images of bearded individuals wearing dresses or makeup with claims -- often containing anti-LGBTQ language -- that they were pictures of Pretti.
Tensions in Minneapolis over US President Donald Trump's surge of immigration enforcement agents to the city exploded once again when federal officers shot Pretti, a US citizen, after having tackled him to the ground.
Federal agents in Minnesota already shot dead another American, Renee Good, earlier this month. Administration officials sought to paint both as "domestic terrorists" despite witness footage contradicting claims they endangered officers' lives.
The events ignited fury across the country, as well as a wave of misinformation on social media.
Amid online speculation about Pretti's personal life and political beliefs, several people are being misidentified as the deceased 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse with insulting narratives about the LGBTQ community.
Ben Taylor
One of the trend's most prominent pictures shows a man in a ruffled pink dress standing in a staircase and is often paired with offensive comments about the art of cross-dressing.
"He was a nurse ......." a January 26 post with tens of thousands of likes said.
Through a reverse image search, AFP retrieved the earliest iteration of the image posted on X in November 2024: "Ben is up early putting in work #fishtanklive," the caption reads. Other recent posts also identified the person in the image as Ben Taylor, co-creator of fishtank, a 24-hour live YouTube program (archived here and here).
Through a search of the reality show's channel, AFP found its creators addressing the claims on January 26, 2026. The video was later turned private (archived here).
Both Taylor and co-host Jet Neptune poked fun at the image during the stream, using derogatory language (archived here).
At one point he asked: "Now what was it like being accused... being edited in a major political event?"
Taylor replied dismissively: "I was like: 'That's typical. Of course, they're gonna put me in a dress and say that I am...'"
Before it was switched to private, the thumbnail for the video titled "reviewing fan audition tapes" showed an identical picture to the one misleadingly shared online with the mention "RIP BEN."
Identical shots of the house's staircase used in the fabricated image can be seen in other episodes of the second season of the show (archived here).
AFP captured several January 27 Instagram stories on Taylor's account pointing to the fake picture associated with Pretti's death.
Kyle Wagner
Images of another individual next to a real picture of Pretti also circulated shortly after the January 24 shooting.
"Confirmed: Radical Left Activist Alex Pretti Fires Gun in Deadly Clash -- Trump's Law and Order Vindicated!" reads a January 25 post featuring the pictures on Facebook.
"I want the Left to start posting these pictures of the nurse and then ask themselves why was he so delusional to want to go fight with federal agents," an X user said on January 27.
The images do not show Pretti, but instead Minnesota-based activist and self-described Antifa member Kyle Wagner.
The photo of the person wearing a silver outfit and colorful wig yielded reverse image search results, including posts mentioning Wagner by name and showing him in slightly different poses at a Pride event (archived here).
Fact-checking organization Lead Stories captured a screenshot of the matching image in a now-unavailable July 2022 Facebook post from Wagner. The post identified the photographer as Caleb Timmerman.
Contacted by AFP, Timmerman said on January 27, 2026: "It is my photo. Kyle Wagner is the person in the photo."
The image of the person wearing black high heels and a cap also appears to have been taken from Wagner's now-deleted Instagram page.
In an Instagram photo captured by AFP before his profile was deleted, Wagner is shown with tattoos matching the ones seen in the posts incorrectly associated with Pretti's death. Available images of Pretti do not show him sporting such tattoos.
Jeffrey Marsh and Grace Sterling Stowell
"Now it makes sense….. he/she was not only a nurse, but an LGBT militant fighting against the Trump Administration!" posts sharing additional photos claimed across platforms.
But these accounts also misidentify the people shown in the pictures.
The image at the top is a close-up of social media content creator Jeffrey Marsh (archived here and here), a reverse image search revealed. The bottom left photo shows transgender woman Grace Sterling Stowell in a portrait that is at least ten years old, taken by photographer Jess Dugan (archived here and here).
AFP contacted both Marsh and Stowell for a comment but a response was not forthcoming.
In addition to the portraits, the posts display a picture of a firearm that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says Pretti had on him during the confrontation in Minneapolis.
The agency initially claimed the nurse intended to harm agents but video analysis by media contradicts that framing, showing Pretti holding his phone and filming before he was sprayed by a chemical irritant and tackled to the ground.
Minneapolis police confirmed Pretti had a valid permit to carry a firearm.
A report published on January 27 by DHS states that after the shooting, a Border Patrol agent said he had the protester's gun and "subsequently cleared and secured Pretti's firearm in his vehicle."
The White House said January 28 that the two immigration agents who opened fire had been placed on leave.
'Blatantly false narratives'
Misidentifications of people on social media paired with inflammatory language targeting LGBTQ people reflect a wider trend observed after violent incidents in the United States.
"Online extremists have repeatedly pushed blatantly false narratives about LGBTQ people, including in the murder of Alex Pretti," a spokesperson for LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD told AFP on January 28.
They said the posts attempt to "falsely and shamefully target the transgender community" following Pretti's death.
Similarly, several people were misidentified and targeted by derogatory posts after the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025 and the deadly shooting of Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in January 2026.
AFP has debunked other false and misleading claims about Minnesota.
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