Hundreds gathered at CCB Plaza in downtown Durham on Saturday afternoon in 25-degree cold to protest the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse killed earlier that day in Minneapolis by federal agents.
The demonstration began with a vigil around 4:30 p.m., after organizers circulated word online earlier that morning.
“We put this out at 11:30, and look around you. Look at how many people are here,” Kathryn Pollak, a Durham activist and founder of Engaged Durhamites 4 Democracy, said to the crowd. “And there’s scary, scary weather in our future. And we’re still here because we care and we’re not going to stop.”
According to news reports, Pretti was filming federal agents and assisting two civilians when he was tackled and shot. Federal authorities have said Pretti approached agents with a firearm. Speakers at the rally forcefully disputed that claim.
“They’re lying,” Pollak said to the gathering. “People filmed it. They tackled him to the ground, they surrounded him and they executed him. This is unacceptable. We will not stand for this.”
Pollak described Pretti’s death as part of a broader pattern of federal enforcement actions that have intensified in recent months. She read aloud the names of people who died during encounters with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents this year and urged those gathered to continue showing up.
“They shot Alex today to scare us,” she said. “They don’t want us to demonstrate. They don’t want us to film them. And we’re going to keep demonstrating.”
She then asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence. Heads bowed and the plaza fell quiet, the silence broken only by passing traffic and the cold wind cutting through the square.
After the silence, Victor Urquiza, a member of the Triangle NC Party for Socialism and Liberation, addressed the crowd, decrying Operation Metro Surge, an expanded federal enforcement effort in Minneapolis involving thousands of ICE agents. “This is their biggest operation in history,” Urquiza said.
Urquiza praised a recent general strike in Minneapolis that shut down businesses and transit, telling the crowd, “It only happened because of organization — because people knew what it was going to take to fight back. And what happened in Minneapolis needs to happen in every single city across this country.”
Despite the cold, the crowd stayed packed together as dusk settled in. Protesters wrapped scarves tighter around their faces and stomped their feet to keep warm. Drivers slowed as they passed, some honking their horns in support.
Just after 5:10 p.m., organizers led the crowd into the streets, chanting “No justice, no peace,” “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” and “Money for jobs and education! Not for war and occupation!” March marshals blocked traffic as the group moved through downtown.
Pattie Le Sueur, a Durham resident who learned about the protest on Facebook earlier that day, said she felt compelled to come out.
“I saw that there had been another shooting in Minnesota, another murder,” Le Sueur said. “I’m sick of the lying. I’m sick of the cruelty. I’m sick of the violence.”
As the march moved through downtown, several local elected officials walked with the crowd, including City Council members Javiera Caballero and Matt Kopac.
“People are angry and with a lot of grief,” Caballero said. “And so it’s our job to stand out and let people know, stand up and let the community know that we’re here with them.”
Kopac echoed that sentiment. “We’re here showing solidarity with folks in Minneapolis, other parts of the country, and standing up for our neighbors here in Durham,” he said.
Nida Allam, vice chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, and a candidate for Congress in NC’s District 4, said the shooting underscored what she described as dangerous federal overreach.
“Trump is using federal agents as his own personal Gestapo to murder innocent people in broad daylight in our streets. And as a taxpayer, as an elected official, it’s absolutely absurd for us to not be saying abolish ICE,” Allam said.
Natalie Beyer, a member of the Durham school board, said she was particularly troubled by reports of children being detained during recent immigration enforcement actions.
“Especially in a week when a 5-year-old was arrested and detained by ICE, we’ve got to come together and take back our country,” Beyer said. “And we do it by coming together in Durham.”
Some demonstrators said they had been organizing and protesting for years. Walter Schonfeld, who said he has been politically active since Donald Trump’s first election, described the moment as part of that ongoing effort.
“I’m here to stand up for our Constitution. I came out here to try to stymie the fascist turn of our country,” Schonfeld said. “I don’t want to see our country run down to the ground by the billionaires.”
As the march continued, chants echoed off downtown buildings while protesters pushed through the cold, some with gloved hands raised in the air. By early evening, the crowd dispersed gradually, many still chanting as they moved back toward the plaza where the vigil began.
Federal officials have defended Pretti’s shooting, which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating. Minnesota officials are launching a separate inquiry after securing a judge’s order to preserve evidence.
Organizers in Durham said Saturday’s demonstration would not be the last.
Above: Demonstrators flocked downtown to protest another fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis. Photo by Valentina Garbelotto — The 9th Street Journal
Valentina Garbelotto
