From Frigid Calm to Outraged Sorrow: A Few Hours on the Minneapolis Street Where Agents Killed a Man

From dawn, frigid cold enveloped the calm of “Eat Street” in Minneapolis, this artery in the city’s south, renowned for its small cafés and restaurants, from New American to Vietnamese.

Within five hours, everything changed: a protester was found dead, videos showing federal agents restraining a man, gunshots had been fired, and federal and local authorities were violently blaming each other.

Eat Street then became the site of clashes: federal agents as well as local and state police withdrew, and protesters took control of the area.

Around 9 a.m., a federal immigration agent shot and killed a man, approximately 2.4 kilometers from the January 7 fatal shooting that had already sparked outrage and daily protests.

The city’s reaction was swift. In just over an hour, anger exploded again in the already tense city. Even before the current wave of immigration enforcement, networks of thousands of residents had organized to monitor and denounce these operations, while national, state, and local leaders traded blame over rising tensions.

Minutes after the shooting, two Associated Press journalists arrived at the scene: dozens of protesters were already converging and confronting federal agents, using whistles to alert others to their presence.

Having covered the protests for several days, including a massive mobilization on Friday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis, the journalists noted that on Saturday, the anger and sadness seemed more urgent and intense within the crowd.

In just a few hours, the crowd swelled to several hundred, their shouts of insults and obscenities directed at the agents, who sometimes responded with mockery. For several hours, clashes occurred as tear gas spread through the frigid air.

Repeatedly, agents pushed back protesters from improvised barricades using flash bang grenades and pepper balls, only for protesters to regroup and regain their ground. About five hours after the shooting, after one final major push down the street, law enforcement officers left in a convoy.

By mid-afternoon, protesters controlled the intersection near the shooting site, cordoning off the area with yellow tape left by police. Some climbed onto large metal dumpsters to block traffic and banged on them rhythmically, while others spoke at the impromptu and constantly growing memorial dedicated to Alex Pretti, the man killed Saturday morning.

To demarcate the area, some arranged branches and twigs in a circle, while others placed flowers and candles near a snow bank at the memorial.

Many carried handwritten signs demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave Minnesota, using critical expressions against ICE that have spread throughout the Twin Cities for more than two weeks.

The mood in the crowd was marked by anger and sadness, recalling reactions to George Floyd’s death in 2020, though without the widespread rioting of that period.

In the blocks around the shooting scene, no police presence was visible, although several agencies had mobilized and the National Guard had also announced it would bolster security at the site.

At an afternoon press conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his officers, as well as members of the Minnesota National Guard in yellow safety vests, were working to keep the area around the shooting safe and prevent traffic from interfering with “lawful, peaceful demonstrations.” No traffic except for residents was allowed in a 6-by-7 block area around the scene.

Stores, sports, and cultural institutions closed Saturday afternoon due to safety concerns. Some remained open to provide protesters with relief from the dangerous cold, offering water, coffee, snacks, and hand-warming packets.

After nightfall, a somber, sorrowful crowd of several hundred people maintained a vigil near the memorial.

“It feels like every day something crazier happens,” said Caleb Spike. “What comes next? I don’t know what the solution is.”

Source: Associated Press.