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    Fatal shooting of nurse in Minneapolis on Saturday sparks anti-ICE protests in Southern California
    • January 25, 2026

    Southern Californian protesters joined others around the nation on Saturday Jan. 24, to express shock, sorrow and outrage after a man was shot and killed earlier that day during an altercation with federal immigration officers in Minneapolis.

    About 70 people gathered around 5 p.m. at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights to protest Alex Pretti’s death, which was recorded on video and shared on social media.

    • Demonstrators protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center during a protest...

      Demonstrators protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center during a protest in response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier in the day Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

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    Demonstrators protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center during a protest in response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier in the day Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

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    Protesters waved signs with slogans like “Justice for all those murdered by ICE, “ICE out of LA. ICE out of Boyle Heights,” “Justice for Alex,” and “Legalization for All.” A shrine to Petti on Mariachi Plaza included flowers, crosses and candles.

    Dozens of cars honked in response to the protesters with passengers leaning out the windows to join in the chanting.

    Speakers at the Boyle Heights demonstration encouraged those gathered to organize and fight for immigrant rights. One speaker, Carlos Montes with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, blasted President Donald Trump.

    “The federal government is out of whack because of the racist Trump reactionary agenda,” he said.

    “A lot of you are very young,” Montes added. “You can commit yourself to justice… to revolution.”

    The crowds cheered, shouting “long live the revolution!”

    Shortly after 5 p.m., Los Angeles police posted on X that a protest march “stopped on Los Angeles St between Aliso and Temple blocking all lanes of southbound traffic.”

    “Please use alternate route and avoid the area,” the post added. A later post indicated the protest had moved to the northbound lanes of Los Angeles Street.

    Around 7 p.m., about 500 people gathered for a vigil in front of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. They held candles, prayed and cried.

    “We’re here to stand with the family of Alex Pretti,” said speaker Anjelica Salas during the vigil. “We want the family to know that we’re here grieving with them, that there are people across America who know this is horrible, that it’s atrocious.”

    “We are the people of America,” she continued, met with cheers from the crowd. “We are the people that will not be silent when we see injustice.”

    In Santa Ana, demonstrators gathered late Saturday afternoon at a vigil organized by Community Services Organization Orange County (CSO OC) at the intersection of Bristol and First streets.

    Passing drivers honked in support as the crowd grew to more than 50 people by the end of the protest.

    “We’re seeing really intense repression like we haven’t seen in a long time. People are being murdered for simply ICE watching,” said Rain Mendoza, a member of CSO OC’s Immigration Committee.

    “There are a lot of ICE watchers here in Santa Ana. This is what the OC Rapid Response Network does. Some of our members go to community hubs and Home Depots to observe in case ICE comes. We’re saying this violence is not okay.”

    Mendoza said immigration enforcement actions extend beyond undocumented immigrants.

    “They’re detaining not just immigrants. They’re detaining U.S. citizens,” she said.

    “They’re racially profiling. Who are they going after? They’re going after Chicano people. I’m a Chicana. I’m legal, but they could stop me because of my accent, because of what I look like.”

    “They kill us, and they kill us with no accountability,” Mendoza added.

    A 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse at a Veterans Administration hospital, Pretti, a U.S. citizen, was protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him.

    In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appear to show him with a visible weapon.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

    Pretti was shot just over a mile from where an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7, sparking widespread protests

    In addition to demonstrations in LA and Santa Ana on Saturday, protests also are planned for Sunday, Jan. 25 in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga.

    The Associated Press contributed to this story.

    This is a developing story. Please check back for more.

     

    ​ Orange County Register 

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