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Alex Pretti misconduct rumor, TikTok's new terms of service & more

Plus: Don't fall for these snow images from Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula

January 29, 2026

THURSDAY EDITION

Snopes Debunker

A sheet of white paper shows the photo of a white man. Above the photo is "Alex Pretti," while below says "Rest in Power (1988-2026)." Surrounding the paper are flowers.

Was Alex Pretti fired from nursing job for misconduct? Here's the truth

After Alex Pretti died at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol agents on Saturday, numerous social media users claimed he had been fired from his job as an ICU nurse over allegations of misconduct.

The rumor primarily spread on Facebook, where users claimed Pretti's alleged misconduct ranged from "unwanted contact to invasive, predatory behavior." Reporter Rae Deng looked into the rumor's origins and found the real story.

A man is shown smiling at the camera. A crow can be seen to his left, while a skull and crossbones is shown in the top right corner.

Is Evan Kilgore the Border Patrol agent who killed Alex Pretti?

Kilgore provided Snopes with documentation showing he couldn't have been there.

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We’ve continued to unpack rumors spreading online after Alex Pretti's killing, including whether he was fired from his job for misconduct as social media users claimed. We need your help to keep breaking down these rumors. By building our membership, we will be able to continue cutting straight to the facts on any subject our readers are interested in. We appreciate any support you can give.

A white woman stands behind a podium. To her left, a gun is pictured.

Minnesota law lets licensed gun owners carry loaded firearms at protests, despite Trump officials' claims

Claims about gun rights laws in Minnesota spread after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

A Black man smiles as he places a medal around the neck of a white man who is also smiling.

Was Tom Homan Obama's 'ICE chief' who received award for deportations? We inspected

While Homan held senior leadership roles at ICE when Obama was president, he served as the agency's director only under Trump.

A phone shows a white musical note above the word TikTok.

Does TikTok's new terms of service allow app to track sensitive info like immigration status?

A review of the app's former privacy policy revealed it has tracked this information for a while.

Staff pick

Image of a town full of 6+ story apartment buildings, some of which have what appears to be a tidal wave of snow on top of them at about twice the apartment buildings' height

Don't fall for supposed snow images from Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula

In January, Kamchatka, a peninsula in Russia's frigid far east, faced its heaviest snowfall in 60 years. The snowdrifts blocked building entrances and buried cars. At least one report referred to the astonishing snowfall as a "snow apocalypse."

Social media users posted dramatic images of what they claimed authentically showed the snow in one Kamchatka town. Reporter Emery Winter found some images of apartments buried in snow were just stone-cold lies.