Anti-ICE protest in response to killing of Alex Pretti draws hundreds in Redding
The protest was organized by a group called Redding Resistance. Hundreds showed up to hold signs, listen to speeches and sing as they called for an end to ICE action in Minnesota and across the United States. Speakers included conservative candidate for Shasta supervisor, Tim Garman.
A nonstop stream of steady honking accompanied the shouts and calls of protesters as vehicles passed a group of about 450 standing in front of Redding’s City Hall last night. There were no visible counterprotesters or law enforcement agents on site during the Monday protest, which remained peaceful.
The event was organized by the group Redding Resistance in response to the shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal immigration official on the streets of Minneapolis over the weekend. Pretti, an American citizen, was an intensive care nurse who worked with veterans. Early statements by Trump administration officials attempting to legitimize his shooting do not match bystander videos of the event.
Silver-haired Marti Weidert stood on the protest line as she spoke to a reporter, saying she came to the event to find fellow community members to communicate with about what’s going on in America right now. She said some of her friends have told her not to talk to them about politics because it upsets them, and that’s left her feeling alone as she’s processed recent national news.
“I feel better now,” she said. “There’s strength in numbers. When we’re isolated we’re weak, but together we can make a difference.”
Megan Owens, the pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church in Redding, was among those who spoke at the event. She said she was wearing her clerical collar to show that there are Christians who oppose the actions of ICE.
“Where are the Christians?” Owens asked rhetorically, echoing a question she’s heard from others. “I don’t know where all of them are, but this one is here. This one is here standing with people of other faiths, standing with people of no particular religious faith to answer the call to come to the trenches, to do what we can to raise our voices against tyranny.”
It was exactly one year ago, Owens reminded the crowd, that female bishop Mariann Budde called on President Donald Trump to have mercy on those who are afraid in her sermon at the National Cathedral.
“Bishop Budde spoke truth to power when she asked this administration to have mercy,” Owens said. “She was accused of being divisive … and she famously said, ‘I will not apologize for asking people to have mercy.’”
Pit River Tribal member Awi Gustafson also spoke at the rally telling participants if they’re not Wintu, they’re immigrants to this territory. He referenced how California land was stolen from Native peoples by the actions of armed agents of the state.
“While we cannot change the past, we should use it to inform the future,” Gustafson said. “It’s important to not lose hope. If the Wintus and Native people can survive genocide, I know all of us can and will survive this Trump regime,” he added, invoking the names of Pretti and Renee Good — who were both recently killed by federal agents in Minnesota — and saying he will stand for them as he would for any of his family members. “This is me fighting for not only my Native people but my entire country,” Gustafson added.
Several local political candidates also spoke at the event, including Rose Penelope Yee who’s running for Congress and shared her experiences growing up in the Philippines under dictatorship.
Former Shasta Supervisor Tim Garman, who hopes to win a seat on the county board again this year, also spoke, sharing a message from Redding City Council member Dr. Paul Dhanuka who’s called for an independent investigation into the killing.
“I watched footage of the shooting involving Alex Pretti,” Dhanuka wrote, “and I can’t get it out of my head. … It’s difficult to process what I saw. No matter who someone is, our country needs serious reflection, transparency and answers. Situations like this shake trust, and the public deserve clarity and accountability.”
Garman, who was originally elected as supervisor in Shasta amid his protest of COVID-19 mandates, said the message perfectly expressed his own views on the recent shooting.
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The killing of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis has become a defining flashpoint in a deeply polarized moment. Public outrage, protests, and legal challenges following the death of a U.S. citizen during a federal operation have revived urgent questions about the use of force, civil liberties, and federal authority over local communities. Yet the broader danger is not that the United States is on the brink of civil war. It is that unresolved domestic escalation, if mishandled, can erode legitimacy at home while weakening America’s strategic position abroad.
This moment unfolds against a critical backdrop: persistently high civilian firearm ownership. Data since Q4 2025 shows that Americans continue to purchase firearms at historically elevated levels, with adjusted background-check estimates consistently exceeding one million likely sales per month despite modest year-over-year declines. This does not indicate organized rebellion, but it does raise the consequences of miscalculation. In an environment where protests, law-enforcement encounters, and viral misinformation intersect with widespread gun ownership, even isolated provocations can spiral into tragedy faster than institutions can respond.
Compounding this risk is the role of agent provocateurs—actors who seek to escalate conflict rather than resolve it. These can include ideological extremists, criminal opportunists, online agitators, and, as history has shown, government agents who cross the line from lawful infiltration into provocation. Past abuses have left a legacy of mistrust that magnifies suspicion today. The true danger is not omnipresent orchestration, but feedback loops: provocation triggers fear, fear triggers overreaction, and overreaction validates the most extreme narratives on all sides. In such conditions, belief alone can destabilize behavior, regardless of facts.
From a geopolitical perspective, this is precisely where America’s rivals benefit. China and Russia do not need to engineer U.S. unrest to gain from it. Prolonged domestic escalation tied to immigration enforcement and civil rights weakens U.S. coherence, distracts leadership, and fractures alliances. For Beijing, visible American turmoil supports its narrative that liberal democracy is chaotic and hypocritical, undermining U.S. moral authority in the Global South and complicating consensus on Taiwan. For Moscow, U.S. instability feeds cynicism, erodes Western unity, and blunts sustained support for Ukraine. Chaos and overreaction alike serve their interests.
The strategic irony is stark: whether escalation leads to disorder or to an aggressive federal crackdown, America pays a price. Legitimacy erodes, trust declines, and democratic norms are strained—outcomes that adversaries can amplify without firing a shot. The way forward is neither denial nor forceful suppression, but institutional restraint, transparency, and accountability. Thorough investigations, clear legal standards, disciplined law enforcement, and responsible protest leadership are not signs of weakness; they are instruments of national strength. In a heavily armed society under global scrutiny, legitimacy is the decisive asset. Preserving it is not only a domestic necessity—it is a geopolitical imperative.
Shasta Scout, thank you for covering this event. It’s heartening to see citizens coming together to peacefully express their reactions to the disturbing actions of ICE/CBP agents in Minneapolis.