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The cries for justice reverberated off Michigan Avenue\u2019s high-rises Sunday afternoon. <\/p>\n
Hundreds of protesters, collectively angered after a second person was killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis, filled Congress Plaza and spilled out into the streets at Ida B. Wells Drive and Michigan Avenue in the Loop. Standing in the cold as snow fell, they repeatedly chanted support for immigrants and refugees and called for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. <\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday was when I asked, \u2018When will enough be enough?\u2019\u201d Lawrence Benito, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, told the crowd. \u201cBecause every step of the way, our people have said enough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Federal agents fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security said federal officers fired \u201cdefensive shots\u201d after a man with a handgun approached them and \u201cviolently resisted\u201d when officers tried to disarm him. But several videos taken of the incident contradict the federal government\u2019s statements and show Pretti holding up a cellphone before federal agents wrestled him to the ground and shot him.<\/p>\n
Several local leaders called for ICE to be abolished at Sunday\u2019s rally and march, including Mayor Brandon Johnson, Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton, U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez and state Sen. Karina Villa. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw them shoot a VA nurse and lie about it and try to tell us we didn\u2019t see what we saw with our own eyes,\u201d Stratton said. \u201cWe must start by abolishing ICE. We must prosecute them for the crimes that they are committing. And I want to say to all the senators who are facing a vote on DHS funding this week, we are watching you.\u201d <\/p>\n
DHS said 2,000 federal officers have been deployed in Minnesota and more than 3,000 people were arrested over the last six weeks. In Minneapolis and surrounding areas, federal agents, at times led by U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, have carried out raids that led to clashes with residents and protesters demanding they leave their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Pretti, a U.S. citizen born in northwest suburban Streamwood, worked as a nurse for the VA. He was the third person to be shot in Minnesota by federal agents this month. He was shot a mile from where Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was killed by an ICE agent Jan. 7. Another man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis of Venezuela, was shot in the leg Jan. 15.<\/p>\n
Mike Gillian, a 54-year-old contractor from Lake View East, was in the crowd Sunday. He said he decided to join the protest following the two killings in Minnesota. <\/p>\n
He said it was terrifying to see what\u2019s happening in Minneapolis in the wake of the federal immigration blitz that unfolded in Chicago late last year. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what to do other than to join these people here trying to make our voices heard,\u201d Gillian said. <\/p>\n
Contributing: Associated Press<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n