Hundreds gathered at Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco on Saturday afternoon to express solidarity with Minnesotans in response to the killing of 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti by a federal agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier today.
Pretti, an American citizen who worked as an intensive care nurse, was shot by a Border Patrol agent in an incident that was filmed and posted to social media.
The shooting happened amidst widespread protests in the Twin Cities following the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7.
“Today, the violence of this fascist administration is rearing its ugly head, attacking our communities, and we must stand up,” an organizer told the crowd during the rally.
The protest was called earlier Saturday by Bay Resistance and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, among other organizations.
Eleanor Brown, who attended the demonstration, said she’s been “glued to her TV” since seeing a video of Pretti’s shooting on Instagram this morning. “All day, I’ve been wishing I could do something,” she said.
“I think no place is safe. And if we let it happen in Minneapolis, it’ll happen here and happen anywhere,” Lorrene Ritchie, another protester, said. “So it’s incumbent upon all of us as U.S. citizens to fight for the rights of everyone, even if we’re not directly involved.”
Ritchie, an emeritus faculty member in nutrition at University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, added she was also protesting against President Donald Trump’s broader policies, including cutting funding for scientific research and moving away from evidence-based nutritional guidelines.
The rally featured speeches from organizers with several groups, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Palestinian Youth Movement. Organizers called for the abolition of ICE and urged community members to join local ICE response networks.
Protesters then marched downtown, chanting slogans like “ICE is not welcome here” and “Donald Trump has got to go.”
The Mollahs in Iran kill their own citizen, the deranged orange Mollah in the US with his private Gestapo kill his own people as well. Last I heard, the statue of liberty was spotted swimming back to France.
It’s great to protest and this cause is as good as anything but , can we please get some diversity ? Always the same AARP White Boomer Crowd .
Dividing people over age and race is not a very good way to encourage diversity or solutions.
“You’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem.” — Eldridge Cleaver.
Also– it’s not necessarily “great to protest” (believe it or not). It takes more.
Another wise quote:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”– Frederick Douglass
To beat Trump we need everyone and we need to make clear demands.
We need to:
1. Remove all ICE agents from all cities.
2. Disband ICE immediately and prosecute all its officials and agents responsible for murder and violence.
3. End the persecution of immigrants and release all detainees.
4. Fire and prosecute the Trump administration officials responsible for these crimes, including the systematic violation of constitutionally protected rights.
A general strike involving all workers and youth, natives and immigrants alike, in every city and town across this land is what is most required.
” it’s not necessarily “great to protest” (believe it or not). It takes more.
Or it might take less. Protests in the street are fundamentally undemocratic as only a tiny percentage of voters ever do that. Typically less than 1% as in the “few hundred here.
The direct action mob are no better than the billionaires. The former use disruption. The latter use money. Both are small groups distorting true democracy.
Worse, it is mostly the same few hundred professional protesters who show up for every protest, no matter what the cause. And at city hall meetings.
“Professional protesters?”
That is a label that the mendacious Trump administration routinely trots out.
Many of these people are indeed recognizable– they are people we should be most proud of.
Few have financially secure lives, but are stubbornly devoted to the humanitarian ideals which often brought them to the San Francisco Bay Area in the first place.
Protest after protest, they turn out, sacrificing their all for a better world for all of us. They are anti-war, and pro-justice. They desire world peace and democracy. They are our community conscience. They are our beautiful people.
Robert, I assume that is satire, as you cannot possibly be serious.
I was there. Where’s my check?
The Professional Political Protesters’ Union won a new contract in a strike action a couple years ago. They don’t work weekends anymore.
Must have been volunteers (scabs).
Yesterday I saw two protestors at Geary and Arguello holding up anti-ICE signs. A lot of passing drivers honked.
That’s going to change everything! Surely Trump will resign this weekend because of this protest.
My dude, you are *writing a comment on a website.*
JE
Yes, and unlike people who spend all day holding up a sign at an intersection, I know exactly what impact this will have. In fact, I have to say it has already exceeded my expectations.
Let him cook 🤣