(AFP) – The day after a second US citizen was shot dead by federal agents in the northern city of Minneapolis, local residents gathered Sunday at a makeshift memorial to honor their fallen neighbor.
“I’m angry and I’m sad for this loss,” a resident named Lucy told AFP at the memorial site on Nicollet Avenue, in the southern part of the city. “But I’m not scared to stay and I’m not scared to continue to fight and stand for what’s right, even when it puts my physical safety at risk,” she continued.
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was fatally shot Saturday by agents who were in the city as part of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. “I heard about the shooting of Alex and came with some fellow nurse friends who wanted to come and pay our respects,” Anna Parthun, a nurse, told AFP.
Pretti’s death at the hands of federal agents took place less than three weeks after another Minneapolis resident, Renee Good, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent — on a street about 1.25 miles (two kilometers) away. The area around Pretti’s killing was marked off Sunday by yellow caution tape with police cars parked across the road.
Some knelt at the memorial despite the icy ground, where temperatures as low as -4F (-20C) were recorded. “If we were to leave and not stand as Alex did, as Renee did, just because things got scary, then that would not be right,” said Lucy, who only gave her first name, her voice shaking with sobs.
– ‘Enough is enough’ –
The makeshift memorial in the snow was decorated with bouquets of flowers and candles — along with a host of signs. “Stop killing us,” “Enough is enough. ICE out,” and “Alex should be here” were among the slogans written on signs posted around the site.
“I’m here on behalf of the Jewish community of Minnesota, and we are absolutely standing in solidarity against these ICE actions,” a Minneapolis resident named Elizabeth told AFP. After conservative media reported on alleged fraud by Somali immigrants — which Trump has repeatedly amplified — thousands of federal immigration agents have been deployed for weeks to Minneapolis, which has one of the highest concentrations of Somali immigrants in the United States.
“It’s been an outrage what our president has said about them (Somalis) and the demonization of beautiful, civil, hardworking people,” said Elizabeth, who also declined to give her last name.
Another mourner, a man named Andy, stressed the importance of solidarity in the face of oppression. “If they come for you, and they come for them, and you don’t show up, there’s nobody there to come for you,” he told AFP. “So we’ve got to band together as a community and society and oppose this all.”
– Roberto SCHMIDT with Elodie SOINARD in Washington
© 2024 AFP
