Small Chester group gathers in vigil for 2nd Minnesota killing Alex Pretti, 37, was shot by Border Patrol, echoing Renee Good's death

By Cynthia Prairie
©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC

He lived and died 1,300 miles to the west, in a climate familiar to all, in cold and snowy Minneapolis, Minn. No one at Monday night’s vigil on Chester’s Green knew him. But the 17 people who showed up in 19-degree weather during a late afternoon snow squall felt they needed to be there.

They had created a makeshift memorial to Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old Veterans Administration ICU nurse who, on Saturday morning, was shot at least nine times, killed by federal agents as he tried to aid two women who were being pushed by those same agents. It was part of a surge in immigration enforcement throughout the country. But in Minnesota and some other states, local laws prohibit area law enforcement from cooperating.

In just 24 hours following, at least four videos had circulated widely, drawing outrage that is no respecter of party lines and harsh critiques from law enforcement across the country, including former immigration officials. By Sunday, even Vermont Gov. Phil Scott weighed in, calling immigration enforcement “at best” “a complete failure of coordination of acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices, training, and leadership.” He urged the Trump administration to suspend its operations for a reset.

By Monday afternoon, the Trump administration began backtracking on its initial assessment in which one of its higher ups called Pretti a “a domestic terrorist who tried to assassinate law enforcement,” just hours after he was killed.

But the few still came to the vigil. “I wanted to do something with my anger,” said Lindsy Mack, who drove down from her Springfield home. She said she did not know anyone, but saw the invitation on social media. As the snows swirled around her, Mack lit a candle from the votive next to Alex Pretti’s photo, holding it in her gloved hand as she said, Pretti “could have been any one of us. I saw someone trying to help someone else and then he got shot.”

“There isn’t much difference between Renee Good’s killing and Alex Pretti’s,” said Chester resident Steve Dock, who quickly organized this Monday vigil. “The repetition so close together, the outrageousness of it all.” Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother and ICE monitor for her son’s school, was also 37 when she was shot to death by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.

That sentiment was echoed by Sharon Jonynas, a Chester teacher. “I cannot believe that this is what is happening to our country,” she said adding that what resonated for her was “this repetition of evil doings. ICE and our government are killing people. I hope that … those who are not paying attention will now start to.”

Chester parent Anne Henshaw, who is also a community volunteer and activist, said she attends the protests and vigils because, “I look at my kids and I want to tell them that I tried to do something at this time in history.”

Arne Jonynas, a retired business owner and long-time Chester Select Board member, attended “out of concern for where our country is headed; the senseless killing of our citizens. ”

Asked what these protests and vigils accomplish, Jonynas recalled that at “our last protest with 70 to 80 people, a truck drove by several times then pulled over and stopped. The driver got out.” The driver, Jonynas continued, said he was from Brazil, was legal in the United States and now lived in a Vermont town with his family. “He said he and his family are terrified and he wanted to thank us. That type of response show we make a difference.”

“It reinforces that we are not alone,” added Dock.