After reported incidents that federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Mayor Joette Langianese reaffirmed the city’s support for undocumented immigrants and first amendment rights at the Jan. 27 Moab City Council meeting.
“I want to begin expressing my deep sadness over the tragic events that have occurred in Minnesota in recent weeks, particularly the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti,” Langianese said. “These incidents have deeply affected people across the country and here in our own community.”
It comes after public outcry about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive tactics against immigrants and U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Good was the first victim fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent nearly three weeks ago. Large protests across the nation have taken place since then.
Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse at a VA center, attempted to protect a woman who was pushed to the ground by an ICE agent, but was shot and killed by two separate federal agents on Jan. 24. Pretti was shot 10 times after agents removed his holstered pistol.
On Monday morning, Langianese received an email from a school therapist to inform her that children are scared and fearful of going to school following Pretti’s murder.
“When I saw that, I felt really kind of sick about what was going on in Minnesota after Alex Pretti, and then when we got the email from the school, it was like ‘okay, we’ve gotta say something,’” Langianese told The Times-Independent. “… We’ve got to let people know ‘you’re in Moab, you’re gonna be okay. We’re not gonna let anything happen to you here.’”
Langianese reaffirmed that the Moab City Police Department’s primary mission is to “ensure the safety and welfare of all residents, regardless of immigration status.”
Chief Lex Bell told The Times-Independent that in prior years, ICE will either call Moab Police or the Grand County Sheriff’s Office to inform them about an upcoming operation.
“Usually, every time they’ve come, they’ll have one or two people they’ve got warrants for,” Bell said in a phone interview. “The’re violent people with aggravated charges or something, and they just come down and grab them, and then off they go.”
The most recent operation conducted by ICE in the Moab area was on Feb. 7, 2024.
If ICE were to come to Moab without warrants, with the intent to conduct door to door operations, Bell reaffirmed that either he, or Sheriff Jamison Wiggins, would still be notified by federal agents.
If this type of operation were to happen, Bell said, “We would probably take steps to meet with them first and see if we could mitigate what their plans were and assure they had warrants.”
“I don’t think we’re going to kind of sit back and let that happen,” Bell added.
In a memo obtained by the Associated Press, ICE agents are now authorized to enter homes and residences without consent — or a warrant — to conduct arrests, in clear violation of the Constitution.
Bell noted it would be a difficult situation if ICE did not have authorized warrants, but that Moab PD “Certainly wouldn’t participate or help … We would try to let people know what’s going on and try to mitigate any impact.”
Despite the reassurance, Bell added there isn’t “a whole lot” local law enforcement can do if federal agents were to use forceful and violent tactics as seen in larger cities.
Langianese acknowledged this is a difficult time for many Americans, and reiterated that in Moab, “We believe in caring for one another, respecting our differences and moving forward together with compassion and resolve.”
She added she wants residents to know that the City of Moab is behind the community.
“If you want to protest, protest. You know you’re going to be safe if you protest and we’re not going to come and get you,” Langianese said.
Following Pretti’s death, many democratic senators are demanding less funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which is set at $85 billion, signaling there could be a partial government shutdown after Jan. 30.
Note to readers • Lizzie Ramirez is a Report for America corps member covering local government and tourism in Grand County for The Times-Independent. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.
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