The killing of Minneapolis nurse Alex Jeffery Pretti has sparked protests and vigils nationwide, including demonstrations in Tucson where activists, nurses and elected officials are calling out what they describe as a pattern of misinformation, excessive force and unchecked power within immigration enforcement agencies.

Pretti, 37, worked as an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and was fatally shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents during a federal immigration enforcement operation on Jan. 24. The two federal agents who fired their weapons have been placed on administrative leave.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Tucson branch organized quickly, hosting an emergency protest at 5 p.m. at Freedom Park that called for a general strike in solidarity with Minneapolis and challenged initial government statements about the Pretti shooting.

Dozens of community members ventured out into the rain for the event, holding signs and huddling together under umbrellas.

“We have to go national because literally any inch we give them, they'll give them a mile and we shouldn't even give them anything to begin with,” said speaker Christopher Duran Quiroz, a representative of Tucson Democratic Socialists of America.

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva also spoke at the event, addressing recent congressional votes related to immigration enforcement funding.

“I wish I could say it's going to be better, but until there are some changes in Congress and other people that are there, it's not going to be,” she said. “I was a ‘Hell no’ on that vote and we all should have been. And if we would have stayed together, it wouldn't have passed.”

Grijalva pushed back on how federal agencies communicate about enforcement actions and use of force.

“It's a lie. I mean, when you're looking at the story, minutes after something happens, they right away … put a spin on it. They did the same thing with me, the same thing with Renee Nicole Good,” she said. “They're doing the same thing with the gentleman today, the nurse in Minneapolis. That's what they've been doing. And it's unfortunate because then all of the people that are blindly believing what this administration says comes after anyone that's against us and threatens us.”

After hearing from speakers, protesters marched to Border Patrol’s Tucson headquarters on North Swan Road.

Several days later, on Wednesday, nurses, health care workers and community members gathered outside St. Joseph’s Hospital to honor Pretti at a vigil organized by the local chapter of the National Nurses Union.

The vigil was part of a weeklong series of events held nationwide, with organizers calling on Congress to abolish ICE, which they described as a public health concern.

Nurses and community members held signs calling for justice for Alex Pretti and the abolition of ICE.

“I wanted to show my solidarity with (the nurses) because the horrific shooting in Minneapolis touched my heart,” said retired nurse Bonita Pilon Loman, who worked in hospitals across Tucson and with the immigrant community through the county’s Casa Alitas. “I'm originally from Wisconsin, and have family there who are talking about arming themselves because they're scared with ICE just across the border, it's touching my family and I.”

Tucson resident Roger Pfeiffer said he has increased his activism in response to recent violent confrontations involving ICE.

“I think this situation in Minnesota is unbelievably terrible. It's a world turned upside down,” he said. “The only way that I think we can help to change it is if we come out and show our displeasure and anger and total revulsion of what's been going on.”

Union member and ICU nurse Dominique Hamilton told attendees she has seen a pattern of police-involved violence over the past decade and views these cases as a public health issue.

“When we talk about advocating for our patients, we mean not just their safety, but their humanity, (Pretti) was a union nurse who believed that healthcare workers should have a responsibility to stand up when systems cause harm,” Hamilton said. “Repression of protest is incompatible with the values of care, dignity and human life that guide our work. When a nurse is killed for opposing cruelty. It's not just an attack on one person, it's an attack on all workers.”

Patrick Robles, Grijalva’s district director, spoke about her opposition to the ICE funding bill and said they were both pepper-sprayed while observing a December ICE raid in Tucson.

“We can't have any more Alex Prettis. We cannot have any more Renee Nicole Goods who are standing up for our communities and are dying at the hands of federal law enforcement officers,” Robles said. “Not one more.”

A poll by The Economist and YouGov conducted after Good’s killing found that a majority of respondents believe ICE is making the country less safe, that agents should not wear masks during arrests, and that the agency should be abolished.

"We should have the right to protest, and people who exist here should have the right to apply for asylum, apply for their green cards, and not be living in fear,” Hamilton said.

Topacio “Topaz” Servellon is a reporter with Tucson Spotlight. Contact them at topacioserve@gmail.com.

Marlon Bedoy is a Pima Community College student and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact him at marl.star.nn@gmail.com.

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