Alex Pretti: Bay Area protesters rally in San Francisco after ICU nurse fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis
From the streets of San Francisco, there were calls of solidarity with Minneapolis, where a 37-year-old man was fatally shot by a federal agent Saturday.
Protestors from across the Bay Area and beyond gathered within hours of the shooting of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital.
"I'm shocked and deeply saddened that one of my colleagues was murdered in cold blood by modern-day Gestapo this morning," said Steven Koster, an ICU Nurse in San Francisco. "I hope everybody shows the courage that Alex showed this morning. He was comforting and leading another person to safety in the protests, and I hope everyone takes heart in that."
MORE: What we know about Alex Pretti, ICU nurse killed by federal agent in Minneapolis shooting
"I think that there is a lot going on right now that America should be a little ashamed of," said Bailey Brown, an Oakland resident. "I think that we need to love each other and be able to support each other."
Saturday's shooting was at the hands of a Border Patrol Agent, and is the second fatal shooting this month of an American citizen in Minneapolis by a federal agent. Earlier in the month Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent.
"I just think it's insane to think that immigrants aren't an essential part of our country. It's terrifying, horrifying, what's happening and how a whole community is being terrorized," said Berkeley resident Alma Prins.
MORE: Man shot, killed by federal agents in Minneapolis ID'd; DHS says man was armed
The Department of Homeland Security alleges that Pretti approached border patrol agents with a semi-automatic handgun and "violently resisted" when they tried to disarm him.
Local officials disputed that characterization.
