(Minneapolis) “I’m angry, but I’m not afraid,” says Lucy. The young woman is one of those who braved the polar cold in Minneapolis on Sunday to pay their respects where Alex Pretti was killed the day before by federal agents engaged in anti-immigration operations.
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A memorial was improvised in the snow in tribute to this 37-year-old American nurse, at the precise location of the fatal shootings, on Nicollet Avenue, a shopping street known for its numerous restaurants offering cuisines from around the world – an illustration of the cosmopolitan character of this city in the northern United States.
Less than three weeks ago, another memorial was set up on a residential street about two kilometers away for Renée Good, an American woman of the same age killed by an immigration enforcement agent (ICE).
The perimeter is demarcated by yellow tape. Police cars are stationed on the other side of the road.
PHOTO ROBERTO SCHMIDT, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Flowers are laid at the spot where Alex Pretti was killed
“Stop killing us”, “Enough is enough. ICE outside”, “Alex should be there”, display signs placed in the middle of bouquets of flowers and candles piled up by the dozen.
Some kneel despite the icy ground, even though the temperature has reached -20°C, others remain standing in silence. A couple, she with tears in her eyes, comes to leave a frame with side-by-side photos of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and each lights a candle. A woman sings “Amazing Grace” under the winter sun.
Black down jacket, white earmuffs and multicolored woolen gloves, Lucy – who only gave her first name – is on her knees, doubled in grief, shaken by sobs. Other people who came to meditate like her tried to comfort her.
“I am sad and angry at this loss,” she told AFP with a broken voice.
“Dogs and Wolves”
“But I’m not afraid to be there and I’m not afraid to continue the fight and defend what is right, even if it puts me in danger,” continues the young woman. “Because if we didn’t fight, like Alex did, like Renee did, just because the situation gets scary, it wouldn’t be fair. »
“I want to show immigrants who have been part of our community for so long that they are ours and that we are not going to let them be taken away” by the immigration police, who have been carrying out large-scale operations in the Minneapolis metropolitan area for almost two months now, she continues, determined not to abandon the field “to the dogs and wolves that are ICE”.
PHOTO ADAM GRAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A person is pushed away by a federal agent in Minneapolis on Sunday.
“Surprisingly I’m not afraid because this is my home, this is my life, these are my people and I would do anything for them,” says Lucy.
The young woman wants to remember Alex Pretti as “someone who didn’t run away when things took a bad turn.” He did not abandon his community. He stood up for love, he stood up for people, he didn’t run away when things got scary, and he died for it. »
Sitting on a chair nearby, Elizabeth has words for the city’s large Somali community, violently targeted recently by Donald Trump.
“What our president said about them and the demonization of these respectful and hardworking people is revolting,” she laments.
Following the death of Alex Pretti, thousands of people demonstrated in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday. A new call for mobilization was launched for Sunday afternoon.
