PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Hundreds of people walked from a downtown Phoenix church parking lot to the ICE field office Sunday afternoon to join in prayer for Alex Jeffrey Pretti, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis Saturday morning.
The vigil was the first for Pretti in the Phoenix metro area, organized by faith leaders who take a non-violent approach.
“I’m feeling very worried about the moral direction of this country,” said Rev. Katie Sexton, the organizer and executive director of Arizona Faith Network.
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was killed as a result of the shooting. The Trump administration backed the federal officer’s fatal actions, saying he fired his weapon “defensively” and called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and “would-be assassin.”
Through song and prayer, families leaned on their faith to honor Pretti.
“He’s an ICU nurse that’s running to someone who has been hurt or is in the process of being hurt. That is literally his calling in his profession. And so he’s doing what he has been called to do in this world. And to lose his life over that is just very heartbreaking,” said Rev. Sexton.
Pastor Warren Stewart Sr., with the First Institutional Baptist Church, said, “We grieve with you. We are sorry for what happened. And we’re going to try to see that it doesn’t happen again, if we can help it.”
Alicia Contreras Alas, an executive director for Corazon-AZ, said, “We want our siblings and brothers and sisters in Minnesota and across the country to know that we’re united.”
Among the sea of posters with messages like “No More Murder,” “Abolish ICE,” and “ICE Melts in Phoenix,” were signs with the name Renee Good. Less than two weeks ago, Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minnesota near the neighborhood where Pretti died.
“It is just heartbreaking to watch over and over again the loss of life that does not need to be happening in the streets,” said Rev. Sexton.
Pastor Stewart said, “We must not complain and comply. We must courageously resist. And that’s what this crowd is doing.”
Contreras Alas described the emotional toll, saying, “Some days I just need to cry, other days I’m just in my lament and angry, and other days I’m just exhausted.”
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