Protests Intensify After Second U.S. Citizen Killed; ICE Attempts Dispersal with Tear Gas and Stun Grenades

Protests and Vigils Continue Despite Minus 20-Degree Cold

As the Donald Trump administration continues its hardline immigration crackdown, protests have intensified in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following a second fatal shooting involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

On the 24th (local time), police officers are guarding the scene of a shooting incident involving the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

On the 24th (local time), AP and CNN reported that Alex Pretty, a 37-year-old American nurse, was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent on a street in Minneapolis. Upon hearing the news, hundreds of citizens gathered at the scene and confronted ICE agents in a fierce protest. The angry crowd shouted, "ICE, get out now!" and "Shame on you!"

The outraged protesters blew whistles continuously in response to Pretty's death. Recently in the United States, whistles have become a symbol of "peaceful resistance" against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

In response, ICE agents fired tear gas and stun grenades in an attempt to disperse the protesters. After several hours of standoff, all agents eventually withdrew from the scene by car. Afterwards, citizens created a temporary memorial at the site of the shooting, placing signs bearing Pretty's name. Despite the extreme cold of minus 20 degrees Celsius, people continued to pay tribute to the deceased and protest the government's immigration crackdown late into the night.

On the 23rd (local time), protesters opposing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration crackdown marched in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Photo by UPI

The day before Pretty's death, more than 10,000 protesters reportedly filled the streets of Minneapolis despite the severe cold. Foreign media reported, "While there was a large-scale protest in downtown Minneapolis on Friday, the anger and grief among the crowds on Saturday felt even more urgent and intense."

At the time of the shooting, Pretty had been filming ICE agents with a smartphone camera as part of a protest and monitoring effort. She was trying to help a person who had collapsed after being hit by tear gas sprayed by an ICE agent when several agents subdued her, forcing her to her knees on the ground, where she was shot multiple times and killed. The federal government claimed self-defense, arguing that Pretty was armed with a handgun. However, analysis of video footage obtained by foreign media revealed that federal agents had removed Pretty's handgun just before the shooting. Pretty was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois, and had dedicated about five years to caring for critically ill patients as an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA Hospital.

The previous day, there were allegations that ICE agents in Minneapolis had used a five-year-old child from Ecuador as "bait" in an attempt to arrest the child's family. In another incident on the morning of the 7th, an American woman was shot and killed by an ICE agent after refusing to open her car door and attempting to drive away while blocking a road in Minneapolis. These incidents have sparked ongoing protests in Minnesota against the government's hardline crackdown, and the demonstrations have spread to other major U.S. cities, including New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.