Trump's USA ICE operations

Demonstrations against ICE across the US – police respond with tear gas in Los Angeles

People across the US protested against Donald Trump and the immigration police ICE on Friday, several media outlets report.

Organizers had declared a "national shutdown" and many businesses and schools were closed on Friday, either because employees were striking or taking time off, or to show solidarity with the protests.

The demonstrations, which were held in cities from Florida to Idaho, were reportedly mostly peaceful. In Los Angeles, a group of protesters reportedly broke free from the demonstration and began throwing objects at federal agents, who responded with tear gas.

“Peaceful protest is a constitutional right. I urge Los Angeles residents to exercise that right and not give the administration an excuse to escalate,” wrote the city’s Mayor Karen Bass on X.

“Furious” gun lobby could let Trump down in the midterm elections

Prominent voices from the powerful gun lobby in the US are disappointed with the Trump administration after protester Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota last weekend, Politico reports.

Several administration officials, including Donald Trump himself, justified the shooting by saying that Pretti was carrying a gun, something the gun lobby considers a basic civil right.

A person in the gun movement who wished to remain anonymous says that people are “furious” and no longer intend to support Trump in the midterm elections. It’s a message shared by Dudley Brown, chairman of the NRA, one of the most influential gun ownership groups.

– If it had only been the FBI director and a few other high-ranking officials, they would have been one thing. But when the president himself comes out and also toughens the message, it takes the situation to a new level, he says.

The agents chased José before the shooting: "Terrible"

When Alex Pretti was shot dead by federal agents in Minnesota last weekend, they were looking for Ecuadorian immigrant José Huerta Chuma, reports CBS News.

He tells the channel that before the shooting, he was making a delivery for his job as a driver for a taxi app and then met the immigration police car. When he noticed that they were following him, he parked the car and ran into a business building to hide.

Outside the building, he saw that Pretti began filming the agents, how the situation escalated and that the 34-year-old nurse was shot and killed with multiple shots.

“It felt terrible to see what happened without being able to do anything,” says Huerta Chuma.

He has been in hiding since the incident. He himself is not a US citizen, but has lived in the US for more than 20 years and has since started a family.