Apple's Tim Cook urges government for 'deescalation' following ICE shooting of Alex Pretti
He joins a growing list of tech leaders responding publicly
On Saturday (24 January), federal ICE agents fatally shot 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, triggering protests across the city.
The incident came just weeks after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who had recently relocated to the city, during another confrontation in Minneapolis.
In the aftermath, several prominent tech industry leaders have publicly condemned ICE's actions.
LinkedIn co-founder and billionaire Reid Hoffman took to social media to criticise the agency, while Target's incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke also addressed the shootings as 'incredibly painful' though he avoided specifically naming ICE, according to a transcript published by CNBC.
Advert
Similarly, Anthropic co-founder (company behind Claude) Chris Olah said the 'recent events [...] shock the conscience' and hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman reportedly donated $10,000 to the family of Pretti, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, AI researcher Yann LeCun was more blunt in his post, branding the agency as 'M U R D E R E R S.'
Sam Altman was also vocal about the incident in a leaked Slack message to his employees, writing: "There is a big difference between deporting violent criminals and what's happening now, and we need to get the distinction right."
The OpenAI CEO also described President Trump as a 'very strong leader' who he hopes will help bring the country together again in the coming days.
Beyond the tech world, Melinda Gates posted on LinkedIn: "No one in the United States should ever have to fear losing their life for taking peaceful, principled action in support of their beliefs."
Now, Apple CEO Tim Cook has also weighed in on the tragedy telling employees he's 'heartbroken' by what's unfolded and that his 'prayers and deepest sympathies are with the families, with the communities, and with everyone that’s been affected.'
“This is a time for deescalation,” Cook wrote in an internal memo posted to Apple’s employee website. “I believe America is strongest when we live up to our highest ideals, when we treat everyone with dignity and respect, no matter who they are or where they’re from.”
The CEO added that he'd spoken with Trump about the matter earlier this week.
Cook faced backlash from employees and customers for attending a White House screening of a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump on the evening of the shooting, Bloomberg reported. The event drew around 70 VIP guests, including Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and boxer Mike Tyson, to name a few.