Vigils planned tonight on Long Island in aftermath of Alex Pretti's killing

Ten vigils are planned tonight across the East End and in Nassau County to honor Alex Pretti and others killed during the federal government’s immigration crackdown.

An outdoor protest is also planned for Saturday at Riverhead Town Hall, 4 W. Second St., Riverhead, according to organizers. Demonstrators will meet from 10 a.m. to noon.

Pretti, 37, was fatally shot by an immigration officer last weekend. He was one of two Minneapolis residents killed by federal immigration agents during Operation Metro Surge, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation to apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants. He was shot multiple times Saturday while using his cellphone to record Border Patrol officers conducting an immigration enforcement operation.

Renee Good, also 37, was shot and killed behind the wheel of her vehicle by an ICE officer on Jan. 7.

In both cases, video shot by bystanders of the killings appeared to undermine initial claims by federal officials that the ICE officers were acting defensively. 

The vigils “serve to honor the people who have been brutalized ... but they also serve to give us a way forward,” said Anita Boyer, of Hampton Bays, one of the organizers of the East End vigils and Saturday’s protest.

Tonight’s vigils start at 6 and will end at about 7. Their locations are:

• Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building (1550 Franklin Ave., Mineola)
• Hook Windmill (42 Main St., East Hampton)
• Sag Harbor Windmill (8 Wharf St., Sag Harbor)
• Agawam Park (51 Pond Lane, Southampton)
• Hampton Bays Macy's parking lot (190 West Montauk Hwy., Hampton Bays)
• Westhampton Village Green Gazebo (corner of Mill Road and Main Street, Westhampton Beach)
• Riverhead Town Hall (4 West Second St., Riverhead)
• Cutchogue Village Green (27320 Main Rd., Cutchogue)
• Mitchell Park (115 Front St., Greenport)
• Shelter Island Town Hall (38 North Ferry Rd., Shelter Island)

Boyer said the events help build community and help promote recruitment for rapid response networks across the region, including the one organized by OLA of Eastern Long Island.

“When we're organized and we're working together — ICE or no ICE — we're making each other's lives better,” she said.

Boyer said she hopes the events will attract people whose opinion of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations have changed because of Pretti's and Good's killings.