Editor’s Note: This story includes content related to suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988 or visiting the online chat at 988lifeline.org.
On a cold winter night in Marion, Frederica Nanni carries a sign reading “ICE OUT FOR RENEE, ALEX, LIAM and all the others.” It’s a message in memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, demonstrators who were recently shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, as well as in support of Liam Ramos, a 5-year-old boy who was placed in immigration custody on Jan. 20 and then later released on Feb. 1. Following these events, Nanni, a Navy veteran, said she feels that ICE is tearing apart the country and its constitution.
Advertisement
“I swore an oath in 1972 to protect and defend the constitution, and I still feel bound by that oath,” Nanni, 74, said. “Unfortunately, at my age, this is about the only thing I can do right now, but at least I’m doing something.”
Nanni was one of dozens of members of the Marion and Carbondale communities who, braving windchills under 10 degrees, gathered along the inside of the Marion Square with signs and candles in remembrance of those who have been killed in clashes with federal immigration agents. The gathering came just a week after Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Jan. 24.
The candlelight vigil and rally was held on Saturday, Jan. 31 as the sun dipped below the horizon by the Marion chapter of Indivisible, a national organization formed at the beginning of Trump’s first term, which aims to move America in a more progressive direction with a commitment to nonviolence, according to co-lead Erica Travelstead. Attendees held signs, candles and flags as music from a speaker filled the air.
Advertisement*
“We figured if the Minnesotans could do it in negative 30 degree weather, then we could do it for an hour,” Allison Powell, co-lead of Indivisible Marion, said. “We wanted to show our support and solidarity with the horrors that are happening in Minneapolis and all over Minnesota.”
This isn’t the first time Powell and Travelstead have hosted an event since the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have begun their operations in Minnesota, and the pair hosted another candlelight vigil weeks prior following when Renee Good was shot on Jan. 4 by an ICE agent.
“We couldn’t keep watching murder, state-sanctioned murder, happening on our cellphone screens any longer,” Powell said. “I’ve been waking up crying almost every day, just at the horrors we are seeing.”
Marion Indivisible was joined by several community members from the area who brought signs and candles. Joe Powers, a Carbondale resident of nearly 13 years, joined others at the Marion Square holding two candles to his chest as the light cast a glow across his face.
“I didn’t bring a sign with me because I was going to be too cold,” he said “People being present is important because it shows that there is concern. If we don’t come out and don’t make our presence known, then it’s really easy to say ‘well, nobody really cares,’ and it’s worth it to me to come out here and be cold in order to be part of the presence.”
After teaching about the U.S. Constitution over the last few years as a teacher, Powers said he has gotten very familiar with the limits of government and how the limits are being trampled.
“I didn’t live during World War II, but I’m old enough that I grew up in the aftermath of that and a lot of the things, the stories I heard, things that I saw, media on TV and movies, a lot of the stuff I’m seeing right now is a repetition of that,” Powers said.
Nanni, who moved to Marion from Louisville, Kentucky in 2003, said she grew up reading about the Holocaust and wondered how people in Germany could have ignored what happened.
“At first, (I thought), ‘Oh, well, I would never have done that, then I get a little older and I have kids and I don’t know what I would have done,” she said. “I hope I would have done the right thing. Well, now I’m finding out. At least now, I’m doing what is right.”
Nanni said she participates in activism six days a week, weather permitting. She said her advocacy cost her her relationship with her children, but helped save her life.
“Last winter, I was close to suicide, because I just couldn’t see anything I could do and I felt so helpless,” she said. “This helps. If I can just change one or two minds — I don’t expect to make a big difference, but any difference is better than nothing.”
One participant from Benton, Illinois, who called himself Big Hero B, came dressed as a superhero.
“It’s a lot easier to get behind a message when it’s a symbol, rather than a generic white guy with a beard,” he said. “That’s why I wear the mask.”
He said he is fighting for justice and decency.
“Justice is my No. 1 value and that’s what I’m here for,” he said. “Justice for Alex (Pretti) and Renee (Good), and everyone that’s been killed, deported and kidnapped.”
Marion resident Carolyn Langan, who has lived in Marion for over 40 years, stood next to the crowd, dressed in multiple layers to brave the cold, with a small LED light and an American flag that waved in the wind. Langan said she was appalled to watch everything unfold as a granddaughter of immigrants who came to America with nothing.
“I feel like I need to support those people in Minnesota who are doing this all the time every day and doing my best to let everyone know that there are people who do not support ICE and what they’re doing.”
Senior Editor Lylee Gibbs can be reached at [email protected]. Editor-in-Chief Carly Gist can be reached at [email protected]. Staff Photographer Olivia Luesing can be reached at [email protected].
Editors Note: This story was update to include the release of five-year-old Liam Ramos from immigration custody in Minnesota and updated the information about the federal agents who shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Advertisement
