Westford organizations speak out against ICE following death of Alex Pretti

WESTFORD — Several Westford organizations came together on Sunday, Feb. 1, to hold a vigil in honor of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse who was killed on Jan. 24 during a U.S. Customs and Border Protection operation in Minneapolis.

The vigil took place at 7 p.m. and was organized by Westford Indivisible, the Westford Democratic Committee, Westford LGBTQ+ Allies and Friends and the First Parish Church United of Westford. It was held virtually, due to anticipated snowfall that day and limited safe standing and parking options around the Westford Town Common.

In addition to the vigil, organizers encouraged members of the public to participate in a community-wide act of care during the week of Jan. 29 to Feb. 4. Organizers said this included placing a candle or soft light in a window, pausing for a moment of reflection and holding a space for compassion, grief and care.

Organizers called the vigil “a simple, visible and safe way to honor (Pretti’s) life.” They welcomed members of the public to join the virtual support gathering, which they said was “centered on care, compassion and mutual respect.”

According to witnesses at the scene in Minneapolis, Pretti was filming federal agents with his phone and directing traffic, when one pushed a woman standing near him to the ground. Pretti was then seen standing between the agent and the woman, putting his arm around her.  Witnesses said Pretti was then pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by several agents.

Video taken by witnesses, which was later verified and reviewed by Reuters, the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press, shows one of the agents removing a gun from Pretti and moving away from him. About one second later, another agent fired his gun at Pretti, killing him. The AP also reported that a voice can be heard saying “gun, gun,” before Pretti was shot.

The vigil for Pretti took place just three weeks after a vigil was held in the Town Common for Renée Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother of three and award-winning poet, who was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a controversial altercation in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, who represents Westford, spoke out against federal immigration enforcement tactics following the killings of Pretti and Good, calling for the removal of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“Kristi Noem should be removed from office,” Trahan’s statement said. “Her incompetence makes our communities less safe.”

On Feb. 3, Trahan announced that she had voted against a bill which would fund DHS.

“Federal immigration agents shot and killed two Americans last month,” Trahan’s statement said. “The time to rein in Kristi Noem’s reckless ICE operations is now. I voted NO on the DHS funding bill.”

Trahan’s statements come as other local and federal politicians criticize federal immigration enforcement tactics.

On Jan 29., Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey filed legislation to keep ICE agents out of schools, hospitals, courthouses and places of worship.

“In Massachusetts and across the country, we continue to see unlawful and unconstitutional actions by ICE that are meant to intimidate and instill fear in our communities, including against U.S. citizens who are exercising their constitutional rights,” Healey said. “This puts people at risk and in harm’s way, and I find it necessary in the interest of public safety to take this action today.”

Following Good’s death, widespread protests against federal immigration enforcement and President Donald Trump’s administration broke out across the U.S., which included a protest outside Westford Town Hall on Jan. 10.

These displays of anger and frustration are part of a broader conversation taking place in communities across Massachusetts regarding immigration enforcement, civil liberties, and public safety.

In Burlington, protests are held every Wednesday outside of the ICE Field Office on 1000 District Ave as part of the Bearing Witness @ ICE movement, which as stated on MA Peace Action website aims to “stand in solidarity, show love and support (to immigrant communities), while expressing shame at ICE and bearing witness to the cruel and unconstitutional actions of (the U.S.) government.”

The Westford League of Women Voters, along with Westford’s First Parish Church United and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, attended a protest organized by the Bearing Witness movement in November.

At that protest, participants held homemade signs criticizing the Trump Administration and accusing ICE agents of using excessive force during arrests, holding prisoners in inhumane conditions, and not respecting civil rights and due process.

“Westford does have a large immigrant population and I’m sure they have been impacted by that,” League of Women Voters Treasurer and Spokesperson Vicky Geary said during the demonstration in November. “Even if they haven’t been targeted, it’s the emotional aspect of this. It’s the fear. In fact, I actually know an immigrant who’d love to go see some friends in Europe, but is scared to death to leave the country, because she’s scared she might not be let back in. Even though she has a legal residence card. So even if we haven’t had that impact like some of the other communities with massive arrests, we have that population in our town, and we are a community, and we do stand up for each other, as we should.”

Also in November, Westford Police Chief Mark Chambers spoke at a Westford League of Women Voters meeting, answering questions posed by members of the league and other meeting attendees regarding the extent that both police officers and members of the public can get involved during arrests by ICE agents.

Questions included the number of ICE arrests in Westford, the extent that both police officers and members of the public can get involved during arrests, and what rights both the agents and detainees have during and after an arrest.

“We did have one situation about two months ago (October 2025), where we had someone that had been placed under arrest for a subsequent offense while driving without a license,” Chambers said. “As part of our booking process, we take photographs and fingerprints, and the fingerprint system right now is all online, because we have to transmit the fingerprints to make sure the person’s identity is confirmed. ICE was notified through that system that we had somebody in our custody who was under an immigration detainer at the time. They asked us to hold him, we said ‘no’, they waited outside, so once he was bailed out, he walked out of the station and they did take him into custody.”