People in the Bay Area gather to protest against ICE
SAN FRANCISCO (NBC, KYMA) - In the Bay Area, people continue to gather and speak out after the fatal shooting this month by federal agents in Minneapolis.
On Sunday, Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) called on ICE to leave the state, while Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino defended the actions of officials on scene.
Hundreds of people came together in San Francisco to mourn the life of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot and killed in Minneapolis by a federal agent Saturday morning.
"To see it in this country it is very scary," said one protester in San Francisco.
One group, which included many healthcare workers, chose to gather near the San Francisco Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in honor of Pretti's work with the VA.
"When I hear someone that I know has the heart that I have and I hear that they get snuffed out like that, it's not acceptable," said another protester.
Federal officials are continuing to defend their actions in Minnesota, saying Pretti approached border patrol agents armed with a semi-automatic handgun.
"Our Title VIII immigration mission mission continues unabated here in Minneapolis. Despite yesterday's tragedy, that was preventable by folks making better choices," Commander Bovino remarked.
But Minnesota state and city leaders dispute that account of what happened and are once again urging for federal officers to be removed there.
"We believe in law and order in this state. We believe in peace. And we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person," Gov. Walz expressed.
Across the country, and around the Bay Area, people are expressing their anger over Pretti's death and the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an immigration officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.
In San Francisco, some people spent the weekend protesting and asking their elected leaders to remove funding for ICE.
Many of the people at the event say their organizing does not stop here. They have more events planned for later this week and even for the weeks to come.
"People are, you know, outraged and we want to do something with that outrage. We want to get together. We want to talk and we want to figure out, you know, how are we going to organize and put a stop to this madness that is, you know, frankly, terrorizing our communities," said another protester.
One woman who grew up in Minneapolis says she's keeping close contact with friends and family there.
"The community outreach has been inspiring, and I hope that San Francisco can do the same and emulate the humanitarian efforts that we're seeing out of Minneapolis," the woman said.
