Anti-ICE vigil in Sacramento memorializes Alex Pretti, others killed by feds
Shortly after they began speaking at a vigil protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Sacramento’s Southside Park on Monday evening, Sara Connor acknowledged the speaker who’d come before them.
The previous speaker, Allen O’Brien, said while there were what he termed “fixers,” people who wanted to help resolve issues, sometimes the best way to help people grieving was to just sit with them when there weren’t easy answers.
Connor, co-chair of Sacramento Democratic Socialists of America, challenged this notion.
“I’m going to speak as a fixer, as somebody who wants to do something about the horrific injustice we’re seeing,” Connor said. “We are hosting this vigil today to give the community a space to grieve and also to inform you all about resources that you can use to protect yourselves and your loved ones and to oppose ICE and DHS brutality.”
Connor added, “This is hard work, but it’s worth doing.”
On the chilly Sacramento evening, the event welcomed 80 to 100 people. Some needed space to grieve, but others were prepared to take action after the recent shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Who the event did and didn’t attract
There were people of various ethnicities and age ranges, everyone from children to senior citizens, at the vigil. At least one person had a small, amiable dog with them. It was a friendly, somewhat sedate crowd, that began gathering around 5:30 p.m. and had largely dispersed by 7 p.m.
There didn’t appear to be any local leaders in attendance.
“We welcome elected officials who are aligned with our values and who can see that what ICE is doing is unconscionable and needs to be changed, to show up and to grieve, along with the rest of the community,” Connor said. “But our focus was really providing a place for everyday people.”
Local leaders such as Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty might not have been welcome at the vigil.
Some in the vigil crowd booed after speaker Moiz Mir, of the Asian American Liberation Network, claimed McCarty had dismissed concerns about the Border Patrol visiting Sacramento because he believed they would only target, as Mir said, “the bad immigrants.”
“I’ve had a couple of meetings with the mayor’s office,” Mir told the crowd. “Mayor McCarty does not show up to those. He does not care.“
Geneva Jacob, McCarty’s director of communications, on Tuesday said the mayor’s staff had met once with Mir, on Sept. 15. Jacob confirmed McCarty wasn’t at the meeting, though Jacob didn’t provide a reason for why. The meeting included Jacob and two more city staffers, as well Mir and two other people representing three groups total.
“We listened to their concerns and we asked that they follow up with more information,” Jacob said. “They said that they would send some information along. We read through that and thanked them for that. Additionally, they sent us a thank you for the meeting as well.”
In a phone interview on Monday evening following the vigil, McCarty said he was okay with people with serious criminal records facing deportation. But he also cited a statistic that 75% of people who were swept up in ICE raids didn’t meet that standard.
“If someone’s convicted of manslaughter, sex trafficking, serious crimes like that, yeah, I think those people – as do most Americans – think those people ought to be part of the deportation process,” McCarty said.
McCarty’s office issued a statement Monday saying the situation in Minneapolis underscored “a serious gap in accountability” and that California law needed to be strengthened to ensure the attorney general could independently investigate incidents involving federal officers.
McCarty, a former California Assemblymember who was elected mayor in 2024, said in his statement that he looked forward to working with state leaders to strengthen the law.
What people thought of the vigil
Those who attended Monday’s vigil included Sean O’Brien, who lives in the central city. O’Brien, who is no relation to Allen O’Brien, said he needed to do something and couldn’t just sit at home. Sean O’Brien said his sister was involved with protest group Indivisible in Massachusetts.
“She’s good at that stuff, okay?” Sean O’Brien said. “I’m not good at that so I use my feet... just showing up.”
Hollie May arrived after people had finished speaking. May, who is of Native American descent, said she had thought about staying home. “It’s nice to come out be respectful, that we can do this in a peaceful and open place,” May said.
Allen O’Brien said he and his brother have been protesting at the John E. Moss Federal Building in recent months since he learned that some immigrants were being detained in the building. Asked what he saw coming out of Monday’s vigil, Allen O’Brien said he saw resolve growing for people.
“You grieve one day and then you take another step,” he said. “You have a hard conversation with someone. You have a hard conversation with your city. You stand out in front of the federal building where ICE is operating and you build the muscles for solidarity.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
