Braving frigid temperatures and snow drifts outdoors the Washington, DC, headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a whole lot of individuals gathered for a vigil tonight to pay tribute to Alex Pretti, the VA nurse who was shot and killed Saturday by Customs and Border Protection brokers in Minneapolis.
The occasion, organized by greater than two dozen labor unions and different teams, featured prayers, speeches and anti-ICE chants.
Daniel Amyx, a colleague of Pretti’s at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, addressed the group. No longer capable of maintain again tears, he mentioned, “Alex Pretti has been relieved. Those of you standing here are the next shift. We need to get that work done!”
Amyx advised NCS he made the journey to Washington to name for justice for Pretti and to assist “end this struggle we’re in.” Amyx mentioned lots of the nurses at that VA hospital wore black scrubs to work on Monday, two days after the taking pictures, and he described a “walk of honor” arrange for Pretti in a hallway of the hospital.
“As a fellow civil servant myself, I think this is a call to action for all of us,” mentioned Peter Grills, one of many occasion’s organizers and a federal worker, who requested that the company the place he labored not be named.
Many who gathered held lit candles to honor Pretti, and a makeshift memorial was constructed on high of an out of doors planter, that includes lit candles surrounding a portrait of Pretti. People held indicators studying “Crush ICE,” “Snow is wonderful but ICE sucks!” and “Freeze all ICE raids now.”