Demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy in Luxembourg on Monday afternoon to protest the actions of US immigration authorities in Minnesota, following the fatal shootings of two US citizens during recent enforcement operations.
The demonstration, organised at short notice by climate activists under the banner “Solidarity protest with the people of Minnesota”, drew around three dozen participants carrying flags and placards.
The protest was called after two people were shot dead by ICE agents in recent weeks © Photo credit: Gerry Huberty
Slogans displayed included “Nobody is illegal”, “Stop being a nation of immigrants with amnesia” and “Abolish ICE now”, a reference to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been at the centre of controversy following a series of raids in the state.
The protest comes after two US citizens, both aged 37, were shot dead during incidents involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in recent weeks. Renee Good was killed earlier this month, followed by the death of Alex Pretti over the weekend.
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“Many of us, of course, saw the images of Renee Good’s murder a few weeks ago and Alex Pretti’s murder just this weekend,” one speaker told the crowd.
Speakers at the rally also drew attention to deaths in immigration custody more broadly, referring to the cases of several migrants who died in January. Leading US media outlets have reported in recent weeks on four cases of migrants who died in ICE custody under circumstances that remain unclear. According to The New York Times and The Guardian, at least 32 people died in ICE custody last year.
One of the protest’s co-organisers described the two Minnesota shootings as “executions”. “Two people have been executed in the state of Minnesota in the last three weeks,” she said, arguing that neither victim posed a threat to officers.
In the case of Renee Good, she said the woman had attempted to de-escalate the situation, contrary to claims made by the Trump administration. Regarding Alex Pretti, she added: “You can see in the videos that the man was lying face down.”
The organiser said her concerns were also personal. Some of her relatives live in the US, she said. “We have Latin American roots, and even if you are now a citizen, apparently these days it can simply be claimed that someone is not a citizen – and that person can then be imprisoned. That is really very frightening.”
(This article was originally published by the Luxemburger Wort. Machine translated using AI, with editing and adaptation by Kabir Agarwal.)
