After federal officers shot and killed a second Minneapolis resident in a span of weeks amid their immigration operation, local business owners and community members joined a crowd of protesters in sub-zero temperatures.
“They were murdered in the street. How are you supposed to respond?” said Jeff Cowmeadow, the owner of The Prodigal Public House, a pub located steps from the shooting. “A neighbor was murdered. One of our regular pub attenders was right there.”
Minneapolis police on Saturday urged people to avoid the area near Nicollet Avenue and 26th Street following the deadly shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse. Homeland Security alleged he “approached” Border Patrol agents with a handgun, but multiple videos taken before the shooting show Pretti — a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry — without a weapon in hand before agents tackled him to the ground.
Cowmeadow told CBS Minnesota that residents want federal agents out of their state, saying the situation is “total chaos.”
“I just think that we need to stand together,” Cowmeadow said. “We need to tell the truth about what we see, and not let others tell us about what we see.”
The business owner who has been in the neighborhood for over 40 years said he had to shut down his business on Friday and again on Saturday, adding that the federal immigration operation is affecting Minnesotans in multiple ways.
“We’re trying to be a public house. We’re trying to let the neighbors gather in peace and in safety in and defy against this bulls***,” Cowmeadow said. “There’s a lot of ripples, not just emotionally, spiritually in people’s lives, but economically in the neighborhoods and businesses.”
Tomme Beevas’ restaurant is located on Nicollet Avenue, also just a short walk away from the shooting. The owner of Pimento Jamaican Kitchen brought stanchions from his rum bar to the street to keep protesters separated from officers, working as a volunteer to ensure the demonstration remains peaceful.
“This has been a safe space for our community and the violence right here on our doorsteps is alarming,” Beevas, who was wearing a bright neon vest, told CBS Minnesota. “We have immigrants. We have diverse people coming together for healing for safety for comfort and now it’s been violated … But we’re doing what we do best protect our people, keep our people safe.”
Protests against federal agents in the city and state have been going on for weeks but have intensified following the killing of Renee Good, who was shot behind the wheel of her SUV by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month.
At the peak of the standoffs between protesters and federal officers on Saturday, airborne chemical irritants were discharged by officers and whistling and shouting were audible on live video from CBS Minnesota. Protesters were also seen setting up barricades of trash cans.
Law enforcement declared an unlawful assembly following Pretti’s killing. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said objects were thrown at officers, adding that an HSI officer agent’s finger was bitten off.
Despite earlier chaos, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday afternoon that demonstrations throughout the city are currently “peaceful” and that his officers “intend to keep it that way.”
