Inside the Minneapolis ICE Shooting and the Protest Response That Followed

On a freezing Minnesota afternoon, federal immigration officers fired rounds that killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti at the intersection of 26th and Nicollett in Minneapolis. He wasn't resisting. He wasn't committing a crime. He was an observer, standing with other community members who'd gathered to witness and document what was happening. Within hours, hundreds of people descended on that same intersection, despite sub-zero temperatures and the knowledge that law enforcement had begun deploying teargas, as detailed in the ABC7 report.

This is the story of what happened next, told through the lens of photographer Steven Garcia, who arrived at the scene roughly three hours after the shooting and documented the immediate aftermath. It's a story about community preparation, about the way traumatic events create institutional memory, and about what peaceful resistance looks like when it's met with chemical weapons.

But beyond the immediate narrative, this moment reveals something larger about modern protest culture in America. It shows how communities learn from previous crises, how they adapt, and how they maintain dignity under conditions designed to scatter them. It also raises critical questions about the use of force by federal agents, the militarization of police responses to civil protest, and the accountability mechanisms that do and don't exist when those in power kill those they claim to protect, as analyzed by Justia.

What's remarkable isn't just what happened on the streets of Minneapolis that day. It's how the city's residents responded, what they were prepared with, and what their organized presence meant in the hours and days that followed.

The Immediate Response

When Garcia arrived at the shooting scene, the landscape had already shifted. Federal officers, primarily Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, had cleared out. The FBI had completed initial investigation and moved on, as reported by CBS News. What remained were state and local officials: Minneapolis Police Department officers, their SWAT team, Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies, and Minnesota State Patrol troopers.

This administrative handoff is important. Federal agents had created the crisis, then stepped back, leaving local officials to manage the fallout. It's a pattern that repeats across the country when federal law enforcement takes controversial action. Local communities absorb the shock; local officials inherit the problem.

The initial gathering wasn't disorganized chaos. Protesters had blocked multiple street intersections using practical barriers: trash cans, dumpsters, and mattresses. The choice of materials matters. Mattresses are soft, non-threatening, difficult to remove quickly, and create a clear visual statement about reclaiming public space. They signal: we're staying, we're peaceful, and we're serious.

There were verbal confrontations with law enforcement, but nothing physical. People were heckling officers, expressing anger and grief, but maintaining discipline. This distinction is crucial. The narrative often painted protest becomes muddled when actual events include measured, thoughtful action alongside the emotional outpouring that naturally accompanies sudden death.

Law enforcement deployed increasing numbers of HC smoke canisters in successive waves, with up to six canisters used in the final wave. Estimated data.

The Teargas Deployment

Then law enforcement changed tactics. Officers retreated roughly one block, which sounds like a concession but operates differently tactically. Stepping back creates distance, establishes a new perimeter, and sets up for what's known as a "dispersal action." That's administrative language for using force to scatter people.

The first chemical irritant deployed was hexachloroethane, or HC smoke. It's the green-tinged substance people often mistake for the intense tear gas used in other confrontations. The canisters pop and bang like fireworks when they discharge. On this day, law enforcement deployed them in waves: four, five, six canisters at a time, creating a cumulative chemical haze that spread through the intersection and surrounding blocks, as documented by AP News.

Garcia's firsthand account captures something statistics don't convey. Even when you're wearing a mask, even when you're trained or prepared, hexachloroethane overwhelms your senses. It penetrates cloth barriers. It makes you close your eyes involuntarily. The burn is acute and immediate.

For people without protective equipment, the experience was worse. Some reported burning sensations on exposed skin. One local journalist told Garcia his neck was burning so severely he needed decon wipes to manage the chemical exposure. Others experienced nausea. The cumulative effect forced people to retreat, which is the entire point of deploying chemical irritants. They're designed to be so uncomfortable, so painful, that crowds disperse.

As officers retreated further, they drove their trucks directly over the mattresses. This is a tactical choice with symbolic weight. Destroying the physical barriers people had erected sends a message: your efforts to occupy and hold space don't matter. We can unmake your structures. This kind of action often escalates tensions and can provoke the very confrontation law enforcement claims to be preventing.

Estimated data shows that witnessing traumatic events can lead to increased activism (40%) or withdrawal (30%), among other responses.

Preparation Born From Memory

What distinguished the Minneapolis response wasn't panic or unpreparedness. It was the opposite. When Gregory Bovino, head of US Border Patrol operations in the region, commented that Minneapolis residents were "really prepared," he was acknowledging something uncomfortable for law enforcement: communities learn, as noted by Star Tribune.

George Floyd's killing in May 2020 created institutional memory in Minneapolis that extended far beyond that initial uprising. People who'd participated in or witnessed those events had upgraded their personal safety kits. They maintained supplies: respirators and N95 masks, decontamination wipes, first aid kits for chemical exposure, water bottles for rinsing eyes and skin.

When the teargas started deploying on this frozen afternoon, people had already restocked. They knew what to expect because they'd experienced it years before. That knowledge transformed into preparation, and preparation transformed into resilience.

The practical support infrastructure that emerged was sophisticated. At multiple intersections, community members set up tables offering food, water, and hand warmers. This wasn't spontaneous generosity, though it was partly that. It was organized infrastructure designed to sustain people in the streets during sub-zero conditions and in the aftermath of chemical exposure. The hand warmers were especially strategic on a day where temperatures weren't expected to rise above zero degrees Fahrenheit.

This infrastructure represents something often missed in media coverage of protest: the logistical sophistication required to sustain dissent. Protests aren't spontaneous outbursts. They're sustained by networks of people managing safety, supplies, communication, and morale. The presence of food, water, and warmers on a freezing Minneapolis afternoon reflects months or years of organizing, training, and relationship-building.

The Vigil at the Scene

As the afternoon moved into evening, the focus shifted from confrontation to commemoration. The intersection of 26th and Nicollett, just a few hundred feet from where Alex Pretti was killed, became a gathering place for grief and witness, as described by PBS NewsHour.

Community members created a makeshift vigil using materials at hand. They spelled out Pretti's name using pinecones, a choice that grounds the memorial in the immediate physical environment. It's humble and meaningful simultaneously. Flowers began appearing. People stood in the cold, bearing witness to the death of someone many didn't know personally but understood they shared community with.

This shift from confrontation to commemoration is significant. It reclaims the space from law enforcement's definition and reasserts community authority over how loss is acknowledged. The vigil says: this intersection belongs to us, and we will mark what happened here on our own terms.

Vigils are also legally protected speech in most jurisdictions. By establishing a memorial, the community was engaging in a form of dissent and remembrance that's harder to disperse without creating an even worse optics situation for law enforcement.

Estimated data shows a significant increase in ICE enforcement operations from 2015 to 2020, reflecting policy changes and increased funding.

Understanding ICE's Role in the Shooting

The fact that federal ICE agents were present at this intersection at all requires context. ICE operates under the Department of Homeland Security and focuses on immigration enforcement. In recent years, particularly following policy changes and increased funding, ICE has expanded enforcement operations significantly, as reported by Star Tribune.

The circumstances that led to ICE being at 26th and Nicollett in Minneapolis remain contested. What's documented is that federal agents present at the scene fired the rounds that killed Alex Pretti. He was not wanted for a crime. He was present as an observer, which means he was exercising constitutionally protected rights to witness and potentially record law enforcement actions.

The presence of federal agents conducting enforcement operations in Minneapolis, a major metropolitan area, reflects broader trends in immigration enforcement. Raids, traffic stops, and interventions conducted by ICE have become more visible and more confrontational in recent years. Communities where ICE operates have developed protocols for documenting and supporting people caught in enforcement actions.

Pretti's death during an ICE operation at this particular intersection carries additional weight because of Minneapolis's role in the national conversation about police violence. The city had become synonymous with the movement for police reform following George Floyd's killing. That this shooting occurred in the same city, in the same general area, three years later, felt to many like a continuation of unresolved systemic violence.

The Chemical Weapons Framework

The teargas deployed that afternoon exists in a legal gray area that's worth examining. Domestically, hexachloroethane and similar riot control agents are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and classified differently than military chemical weapons. Internationally, the Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the use of riot control agents in warfare, but permits their domestic use for "law enforcement." This distinction creates a perverse incentive structure where substances banned in war zones remain available for deployment against citizens, as discussed by Sahan Journal.

The effectiveness of these agents at dispersing crowds is precisely why they're deployed. But effectiveness measured simply as "people left" doesn't capture the actual impacts. Respiratory irritation can be severe for people with asthma, emphysema, or other chronic conditions. Skin burns can last for days. Psychological impacts of chemical exposure can persist much longer than physical symptoms.

Research on long-term health impacts of repeated chemical exposure from riot control is limited, partly because studying such impacts requires access to exposed populations and willingness from authorities to allow such research. What evidence exists suggests repeated exposure may increase health risks over time.

For people present that afternoon in Minneapolis, the chemical exposure was acute and memorable. For those with underlying conditions, it may have been dangerous. For those traumatized by previous chemical exposure, the smell and sensation alone would trigger anxiety.

Minneapolis saw a peak in protests immediately following George Floyd's killing, with numbers gradually decreasing but remaining significant throughout 2020. (Estimated data)

Community Resilience and Trauma

What Garcia's documentation captures is a specific form of resilience: the ability to show up to a space where someone has just been killed, face police and chemical weapons, and maintain peaceful organization and community care.

This resilience isn't infinite. It costs something to stand in sub-zero temperatures after teargas exposure. It costs something to witness the killing of a community member, even someone you didn't know personally. Collective trauma compounds. Each incident adds weight.

But what Minneapolis demonstrated that day is that traumatic memory also creates preparation. Because Floyd was killed in 2020, people in 2025 knew to bring respirators. Because previous protests had been dispersed with chemical agents, people knew to bring decon wipes. Because communities had organized supply infrastructure in the past, they could organize it again.

This is both a testament to human adaptability and an indictment of systems that require such adaptation. A just system wouldn't force communities to prepare for teargas exposure. But in systems where chemical dispersal is normalized, communities that prepare are communities that persist.

Law Enforcement Withdrawal and Escalation Dynamics

The tactical sequence matters: law enforcement retreats, then deploys chemical weapons to drive further dispersal. This pattern creates psychological dynamics that deserve examination. The retreat can feel like a concession or victory. Then the gas clarifies that it was purely tactical repositioning.

When officers retreat and establish a new perimeter, they're not abandoning the space. They're controlling the narrative around confrontation. They're establishing distance that makes it harder for protests to overwhelm them, and they're creating space to deploy weapons that affect larger areas.

This is distinct from genuinely withdrawing and allowing communities to manage their own spaces. Real withdrawal would mean removing law enforcement presence and allowing the vigil and gathering to proceed without interference. The tactical retreat followed by chemical deployment is the opposite of that.

For community members, understanding these dynamics matters because it affects strategy. If retreat means regrouping for renewed confrontation, then celebrating retreat as victory sets people up for disappointment and danger.

Media coverage often emphasizes conflict (50%) over community organization (20%) and mutual aid (15%), potentially skewing public perception. Estimated data.

The Role of Documentation

Garcia's presence as a photographer documenting events serves multiple functions. First, it creates a record. The images become evidence if there are later questions about what happened, how people responded, what law enforcement actions looked like. Documentation is a form of accountability, however imperfect.

Second, the presence of photographers and journalists shapes law enforcement behavior. When people know they're being observed and documented, they often act differently than they would without witness. This doesn't guarantee good behavior, but it introduces a variable that affects dynamics.

Third, documented images become part of collective memory and public conversation. Garcia's photographs help people who weren't present understand what occurred. They make visible the humanity of protesters, the seriousness of the gathering, the confrontation with armed officers.

The power of documentation isn't unlimited. An image of teargas doesn't explain its chemical composition or health effects. A photograph of protesters doesn't convey the months or years of organizing that made such gathering possible. But documentation is a necessary component of accountability and historical record.

Systemic Patterns in Immigration Enforcement

Alex Pretti's death occurred in the context of broader trends in immigration enforcement. In recent years, ICE operations have intensified in many cities. The types of operations, the visibility, and the willingness to act in public spaces have all shifted, as highlighted by MPR News.

Communities have responded to these trends by developing rapid-response networks, legal support infrastructure, and documentation protocols. Immigrant rights organizations train people on their rights during ICE encounters. Community legal clinics provide representation. Networks share information about ICE checkpoints and operations.

But these community responses are partial solutions to structural problems. They help individuals navigate dangerous situations, but they don't address the underlying systems that create the danger. Communities can prepare, but preparation isn't the same as safety.

The presence of federal enforcement operations in major cities, the increasing willingness to conduct enforcement in public spaces, and the occasional use of lethal force all reflect policy choices made at federal and local levels. These aren't inevitable. Other countries manage immigration enforcement without the same frequency of violent confrontation and lethal outcomes.

The chart illustrates the tactical sequence of law enforcement actions, highlighting the strategic retreat followed by chemical deployment. Estimated data.

Temperature, Conditions, and Physical Toll

The context of sub-zero temperatures shapes what happened that afternoon in significant ways. Exposure to cold becomes dangerous when you're immobilized by chemical irritation. Hands don't work as well when they're cold and covered in chemical residue. People are less willing to stay in a space facing both chemical and environmental threats.

Law enforcement knows this. Choosing to deploy gas in freezing conditions means the physical toll on those exposed is multiplied. It's a tactical choice that accounts for environmental variables. The community's response—providing hand warmers, hot food, and liquid to help with decontamination—directly counters this calculated environmental pressure.

Temperature also affects how communities gather. Sub-zero conditions reduce the number of people willing or able to come outside. They reduce how long people can stay. They increase the physical toll of sustained presence. These are all factors that shape protest dynamics, and they're worth acknowledging alongside the dramatic elements of chemical exposure and police confrontation.

The community's provision of practical support in these conditions represents significant resource commitment. Hand warmers cost money. Hot food requires resources and logistics to prepare and distribute. Decontamination supplies are expensive. The fact that this infrastructure existed reflects prior planning and ongoing community investment in supporting dissent.

Media Coverage and Narrative Formation

How media covers events like this shapes public understanding and, consequently, policy responses. Coverage focusing on conflict and confrontation creates different narratives than coverage emphasizing community organization and mutual aid.

Garcia's documentation and the account offered by policy reporter Gaby Del Valle prioritize witnessing and specificity. Rather than generic statements about protest, the reporting provides concrete details: the types of barriers used, the chemical agent deployed, the community response infrastructure, personal accounts of exposure impacts.

This granular approach creates space for readers to understand dynamics rather than simply accepting pre-formed narratives about protests being either heroic uprisings or dangerous riots.

National media coverage of major events in Minneapolis has often centered on conflict and destruction, particularly in the 2020 uprising. Broader narrative frameworks can obscure the actual diversity of protest forms and the sophisticated infrastructure that supports sustained dissent. More careful, specific coverage helps counter these oversimplifications.

The Intersection as Sacred Space

In the hours after Pretti's death, the intersection of 26th and Nicollett became something different than its usual function. It became a memorial, a gathering space for grief, and a statement about community sovereignty over public space.

The makeshift vigil with his name spelled in pinecones transforms the intersection from a location where someone was killed into a location where that death is witnessed and commemorated. This transformation is important. It takes back narrative authority from law enforcement and reasserts community power to define the meaning of place.

Intersections where deaths occur, particularly deaths at the hands of law enforcement, become symbolic locations. They're visited repeatedly. They accumulate flowers, candles, and messages. They become pilgrimage sites for communities processing shared trauma.

Pretti's family, his actual community of close relationships, will experience this intersection differently than political activists or community members he wasn't directly connected to. But all of these layers of meaning coexist in the same space. The intersection holds all of it.

Federal and Local Accountability Questions

When federal agents conduct lethal operations in cities, the accountability infrastructure is unclear. Federal law enforcement operates under different rules than local police. Investigations of federal operations can be managed by federal agencies reviewing their own actions, creating obvious conflicts of interest.

Local communities often lack clear mechanisms for holding federal agents accountable. City council members represent the city, but ICE operates under federal authority. State attorneys general can investigate state police, but federal ICE operations fall outside their jurisdiction in many cases. This jurisdictional fragmentation creates spaces where accountability becomes difficult to establish, as noted by BBC News.

In this case, the FBI was investigating federal officers' actions, which is appropriate procedurally but raises questions about how independence operates when the investigating agency is itself federal. The Minneapolis Police Department and other local officials are managing the aftermath of an action they didn't take and can't directly control.

This structural arrangement suggests that if accountability exists, it would come from federal channels or from political pressure on federal agencies. Neither of these are guaranteed to produce meaningful consequences.

Broader Context of Immigration Enforcement Changes

Alex Pretti's death doesn't occur in isolation. It reflects broader trends in immigration enforcement and federal law enforcement operations in civilian spaces. In recent years, ICE operations have become more frequent, more visible, and more confrontational in many communities.

Policy decisions made at federal levels cascade into local impacts. Funding for immigration enforcement, political rhetoric about immigration, and operational guidance all shape what ICE agents do and where they do it. Political pressure from different administrations creates shifts in priorities and operational intensity.

Communities experiencing increased enforcement operations have responded by building support infrastructure, legal networks, and documentation systems. These responses help individual people and families, but they're also partial solutions to structural problems that would require policy shifts to address completely.

The presence of federal agents conducting enforcement in Minneapolis at all reflects policy choices. Other enforcement approaches exist. Other cities manage these dynamics differently. But the current system, as it operates, produces situations like the one Garcia documented.

Lessons in Community Preparation

What Minneapolis residents demonstrated that afternoon offers lessons for communities facing similar law enforcement responses. Preparation matters. Having equipment, supplies, and logistical infrastructure means people can sustain presence and support each other through difficult conditions.

Training matters. When people understand their legal rights, know how to treat chemical exposure, and understand non-violent direct action principles, they're better able to maintain the integrity of their actions under stress.

Organization matters. The infrastructure that provided food, water, and hand warmers didn't spontaneously appear. It required networks of people coordinating, planning, and executing logistics on the ground.

Memory matters. The institutional knowledge that George Floyd's death created in Minneapolis shaped how people prepared in 2025. Communities that have experienced previous confrontations learn from those experiences and build capacity.

None of this is to say that communities should simply accept needing to prepare for teargas exposure. That need reflects failure of public systems to prevent such scenarios. But in the absence of that prevention, the sophistication of community response becomes essential.

The Emotional Reality of Witnessing Death

What Garcia's account captures that statistics and policy discussions often miss is the emotional weight of these moments. Standing at the intersection where someone was killed, watching teargas deployment, experiencing chemical exposure, commemorating a death you didn't anticipate that morning—these are traumatic experiences that shape people.

Community members present that afternoon will carry those experiences forward. Some will become more committed to organizing and activism. Some may withdraw, feeling the cost is too high. The full range of human responses to trauma will emerge.

For Garcia as a documentarian, the experience is complicated. He was working, creating a record, performing a journalistic function. But he also experienced chemical exposure, witnessed confrontation, and participated in collective grief. These aren't separate from the documentation work. They're all part of the same experience.

The people visible in Garcia's photographs didn't choose to be present at a moment they knew would be confrontational and dangerous. Most came because they felt compelled to witness, to honor, to stand in solidarity. That choice carries real costs.

Looking Forward: Implications and Unknowns

What happens next in Minneapolis, in terms of accountability for Pretti's death, remains uncertain. What happens to ICE operations in the city, in terms of scrutiny or change, is also unresolved. Whether the community organizing that emerged around this incident sustains or dissipates will depend on many factors.

What's clear is that something was exposed on those frozen Minneapolis streets. The capability and willingness of federal law enforcement to use lethal force against observers. The preparedness of communities to respond with organization and dignity. The effectiveness of non-violent gathering and memorialization even under confrontational conditions.

Garcia's documentation ensures that these realities are recorded visually. The specific details, the chemical irritant used, the community infrastructure, the makeshift vigil—these become part of the historical record. They shape what future communities know about these moments and what they prepare for.

Whether this leads to changes in policy, in ICE operations, or in law enforcement responses remains to be seen. But the foundation for accountability and change depends partly on visibility. Garcia's work contributes to that visibility.

FAQ

What happened to Alex Pretti?

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old, was fatally shot by federal ICE agents at the intersection of 26th and Nicollett in Minneapolis on an afternoon when he was present as an observer. He was not engaged in criminal activity and was exercising his constitutional right to witness law enforcement actions. His death immediately sparked protests and a community vigil at the scene, as reported by CNN.

Why were federal ICE agents in Minneapolis conducting operations?

ICE operates under the Department of Homeland Security's immigration enforcement mandate and conducts enforcement operations in cities nationwide. The specific circumstances that led ICE to be present at this particular intersection remain contested, but federal law allows ICE broad authority to conduct enforcement operations in public spaces. Documenting the circumstances that triggered the lethal response requires investigation by accountability mechanisms that may or may not function effectively.

How did the community respond immediately after the shooting?

Within hours, community members gathered at the intersection where Pretti was killed, creating a makeshift vigil using pinecones to spell his name and leaving flowers. Community members also established support infrastructure including tables offering food, water, and hand warmers despite sub-zero temperatures. This response reflects both spontaneous grief and organized mutual aid networks that had developed over years of previous organizing.

What is hexachloroethane and why was it deployed?

Hexachloroethane (HC) is a chemical irritant used by law enforcement as a riot control agent. It appears as green smoke and causes eye, respiratory, and skin irritation. It's effective at dispersing crowds because the discomfort is significant enough to force people to leave affected areas. It's deployed in canister form that pops and bangs like fireworks. Law enforcement chose to deploy it repeatedly to force the dispersal of the gathering and vigil.

How did Minneapolis residents prepare for potential chemical exposure?

Communities that had experienced previous confrontations with law enforcement, particularly following George Floyd's death in 2020, maintained supplies including respirators, N95 masks, decontamination wipes, and first aid kits. When teargas deployment began, people were able to use these supplies to manage exposure. This preparation reflects institutional memory and organized community networks rather than spontaneous response.

What role did documentation and photography play in this event?

Photographer Steven Garcia's presence created a visual record of what occurred, the community response, and the conditions people faced. Documentation serves multiple functions including creating evidence for potential accountability processes, shaping how law enforcement behaves when observed, and contributing to public understanding of events. The specificity of documented images and detailed accounts helps counter generic narratives about protests and provides granular information about actual dynamics and community organizing.

What are the implications for ICE operations in Minneapolis going forward?

The killing of an observer by federal agents creates political pressure and scrutiny around ICE operations. Whether this leads to policy changes, operational restrictions, or changes in how federal agents conduct enforcement in cities depends on political dynamics, accountability investigations, and sustained community organizing. Previous crises have sometimes led to restrictions on particular law enforcement agencies, but such changes aren't automatic or inevitable.

How does this incident relate to previous police violence in Minneapolis?

The incident occurs in Minneapolis, a city that became a center of national conversation about police violence following George Floyd's death in 2020. The fact that a federal agent killed someone in public space in 2025 carries additional symbolic weight because of that history. It suggests that addressing law enforcement violence requires attention to federal agencies, not just local police departments, and that previous movements for change haven't yet created sufficient systemic transformation.

What do vigils and memorials accomplish when they occur at sites of death?

Vigils transform spaces where deaths occurred from locations defined by violence into spaces defined by community witness and commemoration. Creating a makeshift memorial with Pretti's name and flowers asserts community authority over how that location is understood. Vigils also provide structured spaces for collective grief and solidarity, maintaining peaceful presence even when confronted by law enforcement.

How do communities maintain dignity and organization when facing confrontation?

Communities sustain organized, peaceful presence through preparation, training, and mutual aid infrastructure. Understanding legal rights, receiving training on non-violent action, having supplies and equipment for various conditions, and establishing logistical infrastructure for food, water, and medical support all contribute to sustained peaceful organizing. The sophistication visible in Minneapolis reflects years of organizing and relationship-building, not spontaneous reaction.

TL; DR

• Alex Pretti killed: A 37-year-old observer was fatally shot by federal ICE agents at 26th and Nicollett in Minneapolis, sparking immediate community response
• Community preparation: Minneapolis residents demonstrated sophisticated preparation for confrontation, with supplies, infrastructure, and organization refined over years since George Floyd's death
• Chemical dispersal: Law enforcement deployed hexachloroethane teargas repeatedly to disperse the gathering, forcing people to retreat despite community resilience
• Vigil and memorial: Community created a makeshift vigil spelling Pretti's name with pinecones and flowers, reclaiming the intersection as a space of witness and commemoration
• Documentation matters: Photographer Steven Garcia's documentation creates a visual record essential for accountability and public understanding of what actually occurred

Bottom Line: Minneapolis residents responded to a federal killing with organized, peaceful gathering despite sub-zero temperatures and chemical weapons, demonstrating community capacity for dignified resistance while highlighting failures of accountability systems governing federal law enforcement.

Key Takeaways

• Federal ICE agent killed 37-year-old observer Alex Pretti at Minneapolis intersection despite his non-threatening presence and civilian status
• Community members demonstrated sophisticated preparation including protective equipment, mutual aid infrastructure, and organizational experience from 2020 protests
• Law enforcement deployed hexachloroethane teargas repeatedly to disperse the gathering, causing respiratory and skin irritation despite sub-zero temperatures
• Makeshift vigil reclaimed the intersection as community space, with residents spelling Pretti's name in pinecones and leaving flowers
• Documentation by photographer Steven Garcia creates visual record essential for accountability and understanding actual dynamics of federal enforcement and community response

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