How to fight back against ICE right now
A specific guide for anyone and everyone
This morning, a government-sanctioned death squad executed an American citizen in broad daylight. His name was Alex Pretti, he was a 37-year-old ICU nurse and VA employee, and he was a hero who put his body between ICE and a woman they had just shoved to the ground. Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino want you to believe that this happened because he had a (completely legal) concealed weapon on him—one that he very clearly never pulled out, as evidenced by videos taken from multiple angles. But it sure as fuck looks like an ICE officer took the legal firearm from Alex Pretti’s waist before he was shot at least six times.
Alex Pretti was very clearly no threat to anyone. He was trying to film, direct traffic, and protect a woman who had been thrown to the ground by ICE officers. He was pepper sprayed in the face, beaten, and then murdered by masked officials of the federal government, all of which we can see with our eyes, thanks to other local Minneapolis heroes who kept filming despite the risk to their own safety.
Here is the statement from his parents:
“We are heartbroken but also very angry.
Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.
The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed.
Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”
If you want to help the brave citizens of Minnesota right now:
Stand With Minnesota has a comprehensive list of mutual aid funds, food support, and opportunities to buy things like dashcams for legal observers.
Donate to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota or the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund to help people with family members unlawfully detained.
Donate to Leo’s Tow, a local towing company helping to return vehicles of people detained by ICE to family members.
Donate to Rent Relief for Minneapolis School Families to help people facing housing insecurity amid this crisis.
Donate to Community Aid Network, which distributes food, diapers, and supplies to hundreds of local families every week.
*These are just a few resources and I will continue updating this list as I find more. If you’re local and have other suggestions, please put them in the comments.
If you are a member of the media in any capacity:
How you frame this matters. Wishy washy, verbal diarrhea puts you firmly on the side of the oppressors. Having worked in newsrooms, I understand the legal purpose of couching language in “allegedly”s when, for example, someone is accused of a crime but has not been convicted. But when there is video we can all see with our eyes, using indirect, vague language like “clashing narratives” and “ICE-involved shooting” is a dereliction of your duty as journalists. You are either on the side of truth or you’re not—there is no in between.
If you don’t want to spend money at businesses working with ICE:
Those businesses, according to ICE Out of My Wallet, are: Home Depot, Target, Amazon, Whole Foods, Spotify, Microsoft, Dell, Motorola, and Comcast. For specifics on how each individual company is affiliated with ICE, see this link.
FedEx, AT&T, and LexisNexis also have contracts with DHS/ICE.
Meta, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube have been running ICE recruitment ads.
If you are a Congressional Democrat:
Stop fucking tweeting and go to the floor of Congress and don’t stop talking about these broad daylight murders of American constituents. Travel to Minneapolis and go live on social media constantly. If you’re in the Senate, vote NO on ICE funding (which seven House Dems recently voted in favor of.) Anything short of fighting to abolish ICE is now an endorsement of the killing of American citizens.
Hot tip: The best thing we can do right now is flood the phone lines of our elected representatives. 5calls.org makes it super easy and provides a script and phone number for your reps and senators.
If you are a Congressional Republican:
Your defense of “law and order” and the second amendment and being “pro-life” is hypocritical bullshit and I hope your saggy balls get frostbite this weekend.
If you are Minnesota Governor Tim Walz or Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey:
Deploy your state’s national guard and your city’s police for its actual purpose: Protecting citizens from harm.
If your racist uncle insists this is all just about enforcing our immigration laws:
Show him this letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi, wherein she says ICE will leave Minnesota if the state gives the federal government its records on Medicaid + SNAP programs, along with the state’s voter rolls. Yes, they are holding an entire stage hostage to try to steal the next election.
If you’re losing hope or are terrified:
Lean on your friends and your communities and take breaks from the news when you need it. But they’re banking on us getting exhausted, and for the sake of all our neighbors, especially vulnerable immigrant communities, we cannot give up. Fuck ICE forever.
Thank you so much for this post Alex! What an amazing write up and for sharing the resources, too. This is such a heartbreaking time for our county. ❤️🩹
Such great and important work here Alex. Please keep doing what you’re doing👏🏼