Redlands Protest Over Alex Pretti Killing Presses City Council to Ban ICE Use of Property

About 250 people packed the corners of Redlands Boulevard and Orange Street on Jan. 25 for a “We Stand with Minnesota” protest that condemned federal immigration enforcement tactics after the death of 37-year-old Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti — and called on Redlands leaders to do more to protect residents on local public property.

Organizers and speakers pointed to recent local-government efforts elsewhere — including a Jan. 15 action by the Jurupa Valley City Council adopting a resolution that denounces masked, unidentifiable federal agents and seeks to restrict the use of city-owned spaces for staging civil immigration enforcement operations — as a model they want Redlands to consider.

Kristin Washington, chair of the San Bernardino County Democratic Party, said the protest was organized quickly after the Minneapolis incident and still drew strong turnout.

“There has been a high, high level of energy,” Washington said. “The incident that really spurred today’s event, it happened yesterday, and so we weren’t sure that many people would come out. But I think there’s so much anger and frustration that people saw the notices on social media and on their inboxes, and they made a point of coming out.”

Washington said the demonstration was fueled not only by Pretti’s death, but by broader outrage at what she described as harm connected to mass deportation efforts.

“It’s so discouraging to see federal agents do what amounts to executing citizens right in front of cameras,” she said. “We need people to be held accountable for their actions, for the harm that they’re doing to our community.”

The Associated Press reported that Pretti, a U.S. citizen who worked at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, was killed by Border Patrol officers during a federal operation. The AP also reported that the Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was shot after he “approached” officers with a handgun, while bystander videos that surfaced soon after appeared to show him holding a phone.

At the Redlands protest, speakers said the incident intensified fears about how federal operations are being carried out — including concerns about who is being targeted.

“We’re out here because instead of going after the criminals as they claimed they were going to do, they’re going into the workplaces and finding people that contribute to our communities,” Washington said. “They are not going after criminals.”

Michael Paisner, a Redlands resident and a member of Together for Redlands, said the protest was aimed at what he described as an unacceptable “status quo” and urged elected officials to push back at multiple levels of government.

“I think it’s really important that community voices express dissatisfaction with the status quo right now that we have a federal agency killing Americans,” Paisner said. “That is unacceptable.”

Paisner also addressed online claims that protests like this are about defending serious criminals.

“The reason we’re here is to protest the injustice that’s happening in our country,” he said. “We have an ICE organization that is out of control.”

He called on the Redlands City Council to take concrete steps, pointing to policy moves in other cities.

“Some cities have passed rules that federal agents can’t use city property to conduct their operations,” Paisner said. “I would like to see Redlands City Council adopt at least that much to say, you know, we can’t stop you but we’re not going to support, push back.”

Paisner said Redlands officials have largely avoided the issue publicly. He singled out Councilmember Denise Davis as the lone exception, then criticized the other four councilmembers for what he described as silence on immigration enforcement even as, he said, they have been willing to engage on national political flashpoints.

“I would say four of our five city council members are not doing their job,” Paisner said. He said the councilmembers “express support for Charlie Kirk” while failing to publicly address immigration enforcement or take steps he believes would protect immigrant residents. Paisner said the city should start by acknowledging the fear and instability he believes federal operations can create locally, adopt a policy barring federal immigration officials from using city-owned property for staging operations or arrests, and issue formal declarations of support for immigrant community members.

Redlands resident and community advocate Jennifer Maravillas said, “We are at the point in history where a tyrannical regime is executing people and getting away with it. Instead of posting about the death of racist YouTubers or commenting about foreign countries, elected officials, at ALL levels, need to be condemning the atrocities that ICE is committing.”

Overall, the rally remained peaceful, with demonstrators holding signs and chanting while a steady stream of passing drivers honked and cheered, drawing louder chants and raised signs from the crowd.

“The energy is amazing,” Paisner said. “We did this with less than 24 hours notice, and we have 250 to 300 people here.”

Laura Perez, who traveled from Beaumont, said she came because of Pretti’s death and what she described as fear and grief surrounding enforcement actions.

“I’ve come out to other protests, but mainly for today … because of the murder of Alex,” Perez said. “ICE is basically murdering people.”

Washington said she wants to see greater oversight from local and federal officials when immigration enforcement activity occurs in the region.

“I want to see our elected officials start talking about holding people accountable and providing oversight on what these agents are doing when they come into our community,” she said. “They’re not making us any safer. We’re seeing now that they are the deadly element.”

Washington also urged residents to get involved locally, saying Democratic clubs across San Bernardino County are organizing rallies and advocacy efforts.

“There is a lot of work that people can do so that they’re not just at home yelling at the TV,” she said.