Protesters across Connecticut participated in a nationwide call to action Friday, to stay out of work, school and stores. The nationwide strike is a direct response to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Civic advocacy group Bridgeport Generation Now Votes canceled its operations Friday as a form of protest. That’s according to the group’s co-director, Callie Heillman, who said she has spoken with others who are taking part in their own ways.
“I've seen people say, ‘today's the day that I'm going to cancel the subscriptions that I've been putting off,” Heillman said. “I see people recommitting to their Target boycott.”
A Bridgeport book shop also announced it would close for a day as part of the general strike.
The killings of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota at the hands of immigration agents, served as the catalyst for the protests that have swept the nation.
The most recent incident was the Jan. 24 killing of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse. Pretti was shot multiple times by an ICE agent after he used his cellphone to record U.S. Border Patrol officers conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
Prior to Pretti’s death, the nation erupted in anger over the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good, a mother of three. Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent at a protest while behind the wheel of her vehicle. Both killings were captured on video and shared in online posts around the globe.
Jeff Hart, a Democratic Socialist, said he will attend a vigil in New London, to honor those who died at the hands of ICE officers.
Hart said he will be at the vigil as a form of protest and to see that those attending are safe.
“I have volunteered as a safety team member, and so that's going to be in solidarity with their general strike,” Hart said.
Wayne Winston lives in Trumbull and says he’s helping by passing along information and resources to other local activist groups.
Fighting back according to Winston also means forging connections, which the government doesn’t want.
“These people want us to lose hope and turn on each other,” Winston said.
Others throughout the state are still grappling with their feelings.
John Brady, the executive vice president at AFT Connecticut, said he was upset about Renee Good's death. But hearing that Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, was shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis struck a nerve.
Brady is a registered nurse and worked in the ER for years.
"Renee Good's death was bad, but it's something about when it's another nurse, that it hit me hard," Brady said. "I actually felt a little guilty that it hit me so hard compared to Renee Good's death, but it is what it is ... You go through a lot of the same things that other nurses go through," he said.
This story has been updated to clarify that Alex Pretti was shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents, not ICE agents.
