Thousands of New Yorkers protested in downtown Manhattan Saturday afternoon after a man was shot and killed earlier in the day by federal agents in Minneapolis. Around 2,000 demonstrators amassed in Union Square around 4 p.m. for the “Stop ICE Terror” protest. Toting signs saying, “Abolish Ice ,” “ICE OUT OF NEW YORK” and “Stop Fascism,” they marched up to Madison Square Park, decrying the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti. Speaking before the march stepped off, Brooklyn Councilman Chi Osse called for abolishing ICE — and more. “We need Nuremberg trials for the people of ICE, for the people who are committing crimes against humanity here in our country,” he told the crowd. “I refuse, I refuse to call them law enforcement. They are agents of chaos.” “I don’t want to hear s— about reforming ICE, I don’t want to hear s— about training these ICE agents. We need to abolish ICE.” Protesters chanted, “Shut it down!” “ICE off our streets now!” and “When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up right back!” as they marched through the frozen streets. Anti-ICE protesters march through the streets after gathering at Union Square in Manhattan on Saturday afternoon. (Julian Roberts-Grmela / NY Daily News) Kristy Jensen, 41, who lives in Brooklyn, was holding a sign saying, “We see the murders, we hear the lies, we will fight back” “There’s a big job by this administration to spread false information and lies about the reality of what we are seeing, people being murdered in the streets,” she said. “And we need to fight back and show them that we see what’s happening, we hear what’s happening, and we don’t accept it, and we will fight back against it.” “I’m outraged at the state of this country, and the fascist tyranny that is taking over by ICE, and it needs to be stopped, and we, as a nation, need to be angry, we need to organize, and we need to fight back,” Jensen added. The protest was organized by The People’s Forum. “What we’re seeing are political executions that are meant to terrify the whole population into submission as they disappear our neighbors, our fellow immigrant workers, and, you know, lay siege on, you know, the democratic rights of us all,” said Wally, a 24-year-old UPS worker who lives in Brooklyn, said. Department of Homeland Security officials said that around 9:05 a.m. Central Time, officers were conducting an operation to detain an undocumented man wanted for a violent assault. Another man, Pretti, then approached a U.S. Border Patrol agent with a 9-mm. semiautomatic handgun, according to the agency. “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted,” DHS said on X. “Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but (he) was pronounced dead at the scene,” DHS added. DHS said Pretti also had two magazines of ammunition on him and no ID, adding, “this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” The officer who shot the man is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, per federal officials. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said police believe Pretti was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.” Several bystander videos of the shooting soon emerged, filled with multiple whistles being blown and profanities shouted, adding to the chaos. The videos showed Pretti wearing a brown jacket and black hat with a phone in his hand, but none appears to show him visibly displaying a weapon. The victim was identified by his parents, who said he was an intensive care unit nurse. The shooting comes weeks after dozens of protests erupted against ICE following the fatal shooting in Minneapolis of 37-year-old Renee Good, who was killed on Jan. 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot into her vehicle. On New Year’s Eve, 43-year-old Keith Porter was fatally shot in Los Angeles by an ICE agent, who said he had heard gunshots outside his apartment. The agent encountered Porter holding a long rifle and ordered him to put it down. “The ICE officer identified himself as law enforcement,” DHS said in a statement to ABC7. “In response, the individual pointed his weapon at the ICE officer. The officer ordered the subject to put the weapon down. When the subject refused to comply, the officer fired defensively with his service weapon at the subject to disarm him. The subject fired at least three rounds at the officer.” Porter’s family disputed the DHS version of events, saying he was instead firing gunshots to celebrate New Year’s. As outrage from citizens and elected officials intensifies as the agency continues its immigration crackdowns across the country, Mayor Mamdani earlier t this week called for the abolition of ICE “I’m tired of waking up every day and seeing a new image of someone being dragged out of a car, dragged out of their home, dragged out of their life,” the mayor told the hosts of ABC’s “The View.” “What we need to see is humanity, and there is a way to care about immigration in this city and in this country with a sense of humanity.” ...read more read less