BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Locals gathered for a protest on Toomer’s Corner the night of Jan. 25, responding to the death of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti after federal agents shot him in Minneapolis earlier that day.
“The group that organized this is Indivisible Auburn-Opelika,” Organizer Lindsay said. “It’s a nationwide organization, and we just care about people and want people to see other people’s humanity. Nothing that’s happening right now is normal, and so it’s important to remind people of that.”
“We have a website, it’s indivisibleAO.com, and there you can find a newsletter that we send out every two weeks and access to all of our social media accounts,” Organizer Kristin said. “We’re very active on Facebook; if anyone wants to find us there, we schedule protests like this, but we also organize a lot of volunteer work. We do a lot of community building here, and we host get-togethers so that people will feel less alone.”
Lindsay and Kristin said that the intention behind the protest is to reach those who are looking for a community of people who are feeling similarly about the events unfolding.
“I think we know we’re not gonna change a lot of people’s minds that drive by and see us, but I think a lot of people who aren’t sure what they feel, if they see us, [they can know that] if they were to change their mind, they wouldn’t be alone, and maybe that pit in their stomach isn’t wrong,” Lindsay said. “This isn’t meant to alienate people — it’s meant to bring people together.”
“We want our neighbors to know that even though Alabama is predominantly red, there is a large group of people here who aren’t, and we want them to understand that there are people here with different opinions, and we are feeling really deeply right now for Minnesotans and people all over the country who are being kidnapped or murdered by ICE,” Kristin said.
With people in the community gathering with signs to share their beliefs, Kristin and Lindsay said the killing of people happening in Minnesota is something that they, and many others, believe needs to be advocated against.
“This happened today, so the fact that we know people are feeling strongly enough about their feelings that they can drop what they’re doing in order to come out, to feel differently, we hope that it just continues to grow and to bring people together,” Lindsay said. “I think the baseline should be that everyone should respect humanity, and injury or death or violence is a detriment to ourselves if we start to accept it as something that’s normal. No one should have to have prerequisites for whether or not their safety is preserved, especially when people are exercising their First Amendment rights.”
“What happened today was murder,” Kristin said. “What happened with Renée Good was murder. We see it. We recognize it. We’re not buying anyone’s lies about this — we’re seeing it clearly.”
Other protesters also shared their perspectives and passion for protesting:
“I’m here because I saw someone being murdered on the streets, and the White House is saying that it was OK and appropriate, and it absolutely is not,” said Tracy.
“I’m out here because I believe in the Constitution of the United States of America and the amendments that we passed together in the past, and they’re being violated,” said Pamela.
“Today was really, really hard for everyone; it was just absolute murder that happened in Minnesota,” Sasha said. “And even though this guy had a permit and he was carrying a gun, it was holstered, they took it away from him, they had him down on the ground and they shot him in the back. And other ICE agents were walking away from the situation. It’s just so blatant, and immediately the administration was spinning it, and it’s just, it’s just horrifying, and you just can’t think it’s gonna get worse, and it continues to get worse and worse. Using five-year-old children to bait their parents out of their house it’s just so horrifying. And I know that so many people are upset, and we feel helpless, and it seems kind of benign to stand on a corner with signs, but we want to show people that we’re outraged. And I think the sign that says ‘no murder’ really hits home for a lot of people.”
“What I want people to see from me is, even if you’re small, you should stand up for what’s right, and this is what I think is right,” said Louise, age 11.
As protesters held their signs, Auburn University basketball fans began to roll Toomer’s Corner, some of whom were cursing at protesters, throwing toilet paper over the brick wall onto them and making offensive gestures.
One protester shared his passion for what he was there to represent and his response to being cursed at.
“The important thing is to remember to just stay peaceful, stick to the message — state what’s important,” Justin said. “If people in Minnesota can bear sub-zero temperatures where it feels like negative 20 degrees from the wind chill, and watching their members of the community actually be shot and killed, then surely I can withstand a couple of jeering college students who don’t know any better and apparently weren’t raised any better. Surely I can withstand that and just keep a straight face, keep in line and not engage.”
As the protest organizers navigated the situation, Kristin said the goal of the gathering was peace, and she was committed to maintaining that.
“They’re trying to antagonize us, and we’re staying silent,” she said. “We value peace, peace and truth over violent confrontation. So they might try to instigate something, but we all know better.”
For more information, follow Indivisible Auburn Alabama on Facebook. The next Indivisible Auburn-Opelika protest is scheduled for Feb. 18.
“There are levels of participation,” Lindsay said. “You don’t have to come to a protest; you can come to a meeting. You can help support people in your community without having to be at a protest. Most of what we do is not protesting; it’s the most visible part of what we do, but it’s not the most impactful, so join our newsletter and see what we’re up to.”
