(AFP) – When Alex Pretti was gunned down by federal agents on an icy Minneapolis street, Fabiola listened in horror as the gunshots rang out on her block. It wasn’t long before the 30-something was poring over videos of the scene, trying to piece together events. “When I saw the images, I was disgusted,” she told AFP, declining to share her full name for fear of reprisal. “How can the government make a domestic terrorist out of him?” she said, outraged. “There is clear evidence of what happened. They are lying.”
On Saturday, 37-year-old Pretti became the second Minneapolis resident to be killed by immigration enforcement officers in less than three weeks — enraging locals who are still grieving the slaying of Renee Good at the hands of federal agents. Earlier this month, the agent who shot and killed 37-year-old Good was at the driver’s side door as she was driving away when he opened fire, according to several videos. Similarly, footage of Pretti shows him approaching federal officers with his phone, not a weapon, as Trump administration officials quickly suggested after he was killed. Even after being beaten on the ground and surrounded by agents, Pretti did not appear to be trying to grab his handgun — for which he had a permit, police have confirmed.
At the sidewalk memorial near where the shooting occurred, two signs amid the flowers and candles capture the feelings of many visitors who braved the polar cold to pay their respects: “Believe your eyes, not the lies,” reads one. “Trump is a murderer,” declares the other. “They will never admit that they are just hunting people and killing people,” Fabiola said. “They are the criminals.”
– ‘Terrorizing citizens’ – “The whole community is just sickened by all this,” said Stephen McLaughlin, who came to pay his respects. The 68-year-old retired prosecutor said US President Donald Trump “clearly thinks he’s above the law” and has militarized immigration enforcement. “Trump clearly said in 2016 that he could commit murder on Fifth Avenue (in New York) and get away with it. What we’re seeing today is just the logical conclusion of that reasoning,” McLaughlin said. “The aim of the government is to terrorize citizens, it’s really frightening,” he added.
Even fellow Republicans are voicing outrage in the wake of the Trump administration’s hasty and harsh characterization of Pretti’s death, as the 79-year-old Republican appears to be shifting messaging. The president made phone calls to local Democratic leaders and pledged to reduce the 3,000 federal agents deployed to Minneapolis in recent weeks. An unspecified number of the federal agents are expected to leave the city soon. And Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who was seen hurling tear gas cannisters at protesters and dressed in a long coat that many compared to Nazi garb, has been reassigned away from the northern city.
But local residents worry that’s not enough to keep Minneapolis safe. For starters, Trump has not disavowed the methods that federal immigration agents have relied on, and the Department of Homeland Security remains the lead agency on the investigation into Pretti’s death. “I have zero confidence in them,” McLaughlin told AFP. “To obtain an independent investigation, the people have to demand it by taking to the streets.”
He’s not alone. Jay Taylor touches a whistle he wears around his neck to signal the presence of federal agents as he makes a pledge. “We’re going to kick them out of the city. We’re going to win because we’re standing for the truth,” the 44-year-old told AFP. The recent tragedies and public outpouring of emotion reminded him of the reaction to George Floyd’s spring 2020 murder by a police officer in Minneapolis. “This time, it happened during winter, so there’s not as many people in the streets,” Taylor said. “Trump got lucky with that one.”
– Romain FONSEGRIVES
© 2024 AFP
