Over 100 locals gather at ICE protest in Gainesville

The Gainesville chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation organized a protest in front of Bo Diddley Plaza Sunday morning — a demonstration in response to the killing of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota on Saturday. 

About 150 people attended the protest, which marks the third demonstration of its kind in Gainesville this week. The group held an emergency meeting in the Alachua County Headquarters Library after the protest. 

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was tackled and fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Saturday. Pretti, a U.S. citizen, had no known criminal record. 

The City of Minneapolis has made a formal request to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to engage the Minnesota National Guard to help supplement local law enforcement, stating resources are stretched thin across the state due to a disruption of public safety as a result of ICE agents within the city.

Organizers with carts full of signs reading “Stop ICE terror” distributed them to protesters as they showed up. As more people arrived, chants became louder and more passionate: “I believe the people win,” participants shouted. 

At Gainesville’s protest on Sunday, Marilyn Wende, a 32-year-old Gainesville resident and member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, read a statement from Pretti’s family over a megaphone and added her own words. 

“We must honor the legacy of Alex Pretti and all of the victims of ICE by exposing these lies on a large scale and fighting for a better system,” she said. 

Janet Suggs, a 66-year-old member of Gainesville Women for Democracy and Badass Feminists of Gainesville, said people often misunderstand the charges undocumented immigrants face.

“ Being here illegally is not a criminal offense,” she said. “They're treating it like it's a criminal offense, and it's a civil offense.” 

According to the American Immigration Council, “physical presence in the United States without proper authorization is a civil violation,” meaning the Department of Homeland Security can place an undocumented individual in deportation proceedings but can’t charge them with a criminal offense. 

Suggs said she thinks ICE agents are abusing their power. Pretti is the second person killed by ICE in Minnesota this month. Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed Jan. 7. 

“They’re heavy-handed, and we're going to raise hell against this, because this is not right,” she said. “We're here to protect our immigrants.”

In just the past eight months, ICE has made over 10,000 arrests in Florida, according to the governor’s office. Suggs fears Alachua County might become a target, as it’s one of the few Democrat-led counties in Florida. 

“ We're a little blue haven amongst a sea of red,” she said. “So I imagine that they're going to be coming here next.”

The emergency meeting after the protest began at 12:30 p.m., and according to Party for Socialism and Liberation organizer Quinton Cooper, around 140 people attended. 

“ [The meeting] was just meant to codify all the different feelings, emotions, outrage, that people had and turn that into organization to really have a strong working class body of people who are prepared to do what Minneapolis did,” Cooper said.

Organizers in Minneapolis called for a general strike on Friday: a day of no work, school or shopping. CBS News estimated over 300 businesses closed in solidarity.

Kai Blades, a 21-year-old UF history masters student and an organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Students for Socialism said he’s not only protesting ICE, but imperialism, which he says only creates systems that abuse power. 

“I'm out here because what is happening right now in Minneapolis, it's setting a very dangerous precedent for Americans and immigrants all over the world and especially in our streets,” Blades said.

Contact Kaitlyn McCormack at kmccormack@alligator.org. Follow her on X @kaitmccormack20

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