The recent fatal shooting of Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti at the hands of Border Patrol agents has fuelled a “technology brother vs technology brother” civil war at an influential Silicon Valley venture firm.

Indian-American billionaire Vinod Khosla, the founder of Khosla Ventures – a private American venture capital firm based in California – has since publicly disavowed remarks a top executive from his company made on X.

Officials linked to Khosla Ventures were spotted publicly feuding on social media after Keith Rabois, the managing director of Khosla Ventures, voiced his opinion in favour of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities while the US stays divided on the massive immigration crackdown efforts in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rabois’ pro-ICE comments emerged on X shortly after Pretti, a US citizen, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday (US time).

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Pretti’s death marked the third overall shooting and second fatal shooting at the hands of federal agents in the same city in January 2026. Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three, was shot dead by ICE officer Jonathan Ross just weeks before Pretti’s shocking news rocked Minneapolis, prompting even more widespread protests led by ‘ICE Out’ slogans.

Keith Rabois’ pro-ICE statement on X

American political scientist Richard Hanania shared the footage of Pretti’s fatal shooting on X, and questioned, “Who has shot more people in Minneapolis over the last few months, federal agents or illegal immigrants?”

The Khosla Ventures MD eventually commented under the post, “No law enforcement has shot an innocent person. Illegals are committing violent crimes everyday.” Rabois had previously served on the boards of several companies like Reddit and Yelp. Additionally, he is the co-founder and chairman of Opendoor Technologies.

He continued engaging in an argument with Hanania in the next few comments. While both tussled over the legal immigration vs illegal immigration debate, Adam Delehanty, the founder and CEO of Ghost Agency LLC, a content and ghostwriting agency, took note of Rabois’ previous comment elsewhere.

“If I were a founder in Khosla’s portfolio, I’d just give them the money back. He is such an embarrassment,” the Ghost CEO shared on X.

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Indian American billionaire Vinod Khosla distances himself from firm exec

Delehanty’s tweet caught the eye of Ethan Choi, a partner at Khosla Ventures. He, in turn, publicly clarified his stance amid the ICE unrest. “I want to make it clear that Keith doesn’t represent everyone’s views here at @khoslaventures, at least not mine,” Choi wrote online. “What happened in Minnesota is plain wrong. Don’t know how you could really see it differently. Sad to see a person’s life taken unnecessarily.”

And then, the firm’s founder, Vinod Khosla, joined in suit. Re-posting Choi’s comment, the Indian American billionaire went on to call out “macho ICE vigilantes running amuck empowered by a conscious-less administration.”

Alluding to the Alex Pretti shooting video, he added, “The video was sickening to watch and the storytelling without facts or with invented fictitious facts by authorities almost unimaginable in a civilized society. ICE personnel must have ice water running thru their veins to treat other human beings this way. There is politics but humanity should transcend that.”