An emergency protest was assembled at Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday in solidarity with that morning’s killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis.
The gathering was led by the Party of Socialism and Liberation, starting at 4 p.m. and went into the night. Speakers angrily condemned President Donald Trump and his administration for continuing its immigration enforcement operations across the country.
The protest marched from Olvera Street to the Federal Building, later continuing to the Metropolitan Detention Center. The protest concluded with a candlelight vigil led by clergy on the steps of the Federal Building where people mourned those whose deaths were caused by ICE, such as Keith Porter Jr., Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Episcol Priest from St. Stephens and St. Barnabas Jaime Edwards-Acton led the candlelight vigil along with other leaders of faith. He had previously led another protest on Friday that called for peace and resolution.
“It made me feel sick,” Edwards-Acton said. “It seems like every time the brutality gets ratcheted up. Renee Good was shot three times in the face and Alex Pretti was shot ten times in the back at point-blank. What’s next?”
The Department of Homeland Security agents were mostly absent from the protests near the federal buildings, and LAPD dispersed the remaining crowd at 9:30 p.m.
