More than 200 Juneau residents gathered downtown at Overstreet Park Sunday evening for a candlelight vigil. They were there to honor a man who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during protests against ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
“There’s a lot of grief, there’s a lot of anger — and there’s also a lot of hope,” said Claire Richardson, a volunteer with ReSisters, a local group of women who work for social justice and equality.
The crowd gathered just a few hours after the pop-up event was posted on social media by several advocacy groups in Juneau.
Multiple local and state leaders spoke to the crowd as snow fell Sunday night, including Juneau Assembly member Maureen Hall. She says immigrants are the bedrock of the community.
“Let us keep praying, let us keep speaking out, and let us keep standing in solidarity with those in the community that are too afraid to show up at something like this tonight,” she said.
Juneau’s vigil on Sunday night joins a wave of vigils and protests in Minneapolis and across the U.S. that erupted over the weekend following the death of another person killed by federal officers during immigration enforcement protests.
The man killed was identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse. His death marked the second person killed in Minneapolis during encounters with immigration officials amid a crackdown in the city. Just weeks prior, an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in her vehicle while the agency was conducting an operation in the city.
The deaths have ignited fierce debates, with Minnesota and Congressional leaders pressing the Trump Administration over the facts and legality of actions by ICE officers as immigration enforcement ramps up across the country.
In Anchorage and Fairbanks, residents gathered in similar protests this weekend, according to social media posts. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, along with other congressional Republicans, has called for an investigation into Pretti’s shooting.
