Alex Pretti, the man who was shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Saturday, was an enthusiastic bicycle rider. Within hours of his murder, photos of him smiling on a dirt road holding his knobby-tired Surly began to circulate. Now the bike shop in Minneapolis he once frequented is helping organize a nationwide bike ride to honor Pretti and others who’ve had their lives ended and upended by Trump’s troops.
In a post on Instagram Monday, Angry Catfish Bicycle and Coffee wrote that Pretti was, “A kind and caring soul put on this earth to be the light for others.” “Although his light has been extinguished by this fascist regime, it hasn’t been lost,” the shop continued. “If anything, those sparks fell and ignited something in us that’s been hiding all along,”
In the past 24 hours, well over a dozen cities have announced rides to follow their lead. So far cyclists will roll together in: Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia; Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, Texas; Bellingham, Washington; San Francisco, California; Wichita, Kansas; and Memphis, Tennessee.
The Portland ride is being organized by Golden Pliers Bike Shop. “This ride will be a vigil for those murdered by ICE, for the families that have been torn apart, a ride in solidarity with communities across this country,” wrote the shop on Instagram.
The Portland ride meets at 2:00 pm Saturday (January 31st) at Irving Park. Roll-out is 2:30. See the Shift Calendar for more details.
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Chicago is also riding.
Details for the memorial ride for Alex Pretti in Chicago this weekend.
– Meet at 1:15pm, Roll at 1:30pm
– John Walsh Park (E end of The 606)
– Route to come, we will roll @ party pace (casual, no drop) toward the VA on Damen where a memorial is set up for Alex.
Map on BikePacking.
https://bikepacking.com/news/alex-pretti-memorial-rides/
Cincinnati will also be riding. Spun Bicycles/Tri State Trails has the details.
Denver will also be riding
Meet at noon by the MLK statue in City Park, ride at 1230
Corvallis is in: Riders will meet at 5th and Monroe, behind the Benton County Courthouse.
Time? Date? Who’s organizing?
Just found the flier. The ride in Corvallis starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the location identified by Ron G. .
Is there any way to figure out where folks could join the ride along the way? The shift calendar post says 3 to 8 mile ride but doesn’t provide any meeting points except for the start at Irving Park. Would love to join but can’t quite make it to Irving Park at 2:30.
I know it will be heading to the Union-backed ICE protest at Elizabeth Caruthers Park, which I believe gathers at 3:30pm and marches around 4pm.
I urge everyone to get on your bike and exercise your 1st amendment rights! Power to the people!
A few pro tip safety recommendations:
I guess you can sleep well at night knowing that you will never be in a position where masked Federal agents can murder you in public. You should have some empathy here, but instead, you post thinly veiled attacks on this victim from behind a keyboard.
Whoa there mate, easy on the roo punches.
Jose literally said “ride peacefully, don’t get hurt, don’t give the cops an excuse” — which is about as controversial as saying “consider wearing a helmet with a BLM sticker” in Portland. No one’s attacking the victim here.
Empathy and safety tips aren’t mutually exclusive, hey. We can be angry and smart about it. Deep breath, quick lap round the block, she’ll be right. ✌️
A calm as a kookaburra in a collyswap.
Actually what he LITERALLY said included multiple things that very few protesters would think of doing, but were identical to what Pretti apparently did.
At least to me–and I know it may not to everyone–it read like a near repeat of Jose’s “was it wise for Pretti to conceal carry” comment in an earlier article, repackaged as “simply giving general advice”.
No one is buying it.
OK, Lucy, have it your own way
Don’t think you’re going to be spared by them because you post up as a moderate right. After they come for the American left, they will come for the American independent centrist, then they will come for the traditional American conservative, and then they will fight each other about who is most the maga right…
Are you saying that after they come for all the people who aren’t even Americans they will go after the American left, which means if I am an Obama moderate, I can at least see those improvements before they come after me? Deal.
Like a baby. I don’t play stupid games to win stupid prizes.
And you’ll never make a difference in the world.
I like my odds compared to people blowing whistles in the winter wind and your 15-minute martyr.
Inserting yourself into situations like these with a loaded firearm is beyond idiotic.
Yes, someone really should disarm these ICE Pigs.
That helps a lot, thanks
Tiresome.
Lectures from MAGA people are so helpful….
Bootlickers give the best advice.
Oi BB, mate, not sure which planet you’re on, but telling folks how not to get shot at a protest and lock up your guns is apparently MAGA now? Wild times. Maybe try riding your keyboard a bit slower before tossing insults, yeah?
We are in wild times, and we won’t forget which side folks like you decided to take.
That sounds like a threat.
Sounds like a guilty person is worried..
If it sounds threatening for someone to say we’ll remember what you did, do better things.
I think you know a few too many “we” types and don’t interact with “folks like you” very often to have such misplaced confidence.
Hilarious, we have found the true Cult member… Trumps approval is cratering, He just lost 7 Repub senators on a vote, but you are with him to the bitter clinging end.
https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker
This your first time paying attention to presidential approval ratings? Were you abandoning Biden as he fell from +14% to -11% (cumulative 25%) over the same period that Trump has gone from +3% to -18% (cumulative 21%)?
What?! Seven senators in a separate branch of government didn’t listen to the president’s wishes and voted on behalf of their constituents?! This is a super WTF. I was led to believe that he was a dictator, a king among men, an authoritarian, but to find out that he is just a president beholden to other branches of government to effect his strategy of governance from the executive is unbelievably surprising. Looking for my Trump Kool-Aid that the real members only have to drink in case of emergencies now.
You can only fall so far, Trump started pretty unpopular, so it’s no surprise falling to rock bottom isn’t as far.
How might this affect his inability to run for president in 2028?
If we did not have the pathetic lying scumbag you voted for in the WH, we wouldn’t worry about getting shot for just existing….
Crikey, BB — that’s a bigger leap than a kangaroo on Red Bull.
For the record: I voted for Biden and Harris not the Orange. But apparently on BikePortland, suggesting people don’t get shot now makes you MAGA?
That’s not political analysis, mate — that’s vibes-based astrology. Maybe ease off the mind-reading and stick to the actual words, yeah?
Jose’s suggestions were thinly-veiled attacks on this victim of state violence. When someone is murdered by the state for everyone to see, choosing to highlight the risks of whatever activity they are involved in and suggesting that others don’t practice the same behaviors is victim blaming.
When you replied to me, you conveniently ignored this quote from him:
If you don’t see the above as thinly-veiled victim blaming given the circumstances here, I question your intent with these comments.
Seems to me like you are just looking for people to argue with.
Presumably you are from Australia, but busting out a “Crikey” doesn’t make this stuff relatable. Does the irony of a bunch of dudes who sleep with their guns chopping down a legal carry permit holder not translate into Aussie? Sorry, right wingers don’t get to litigate their personal revelation of second amendment exceptions.
You can carry all the weapons you want if you are trying to overthrow the government as Trump and his Goons attempted to on Jan 6, 2021.
Save us your pathetic advice. You Trumpers are such fucking hypocrites.
Safety tips for ICE:
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to schedule things like this on a weekday during work hours. Makes more of a statement.
But hey, I’m not the one organizing it, so thanks to those who do. I hope to be there.
For this Saturday in NC we’ve scheduled another major snow storm. Have fun!
Where is your ride for Iryna Zaretska, Laken Riley, Megan Bos, Maria Pleitez, or so many others? This celebration of criminals while completely forgetting the real victims is shameful.
Sorry, but millions of Americans stand firmly with ICE. We voted for President Trump to enforce the laws of our nation and deport all illegal immigrants. ICE was actually deporting a LOT more people under Obama, ironically (since far more were coming in due to the open borders).
We’re not playing these games. The only reason lefties want illegals here is to inflate the census and grab congressional seats and federal funding (appropriated based on census, which counts all people, not just citizens). This is fraud, plain and simple – and meanwhile Americans are dying at the hands of illegals. Enough is enough.
ok Vlad
If ICE were conducting their operations without violating people’s rights, they would be getting a lot less pushback than they are. It’s the manner in which they are pursuing Trump’s agenda that people are reacting to more than the agenda itself (deporting people here illegally enjoys broad popular support, so long as it is done humanely and following due process).
Remember, everyone in the US, citizen, visitor, or illegal alien, enjoys the protection of our laws and constitution.
I am sure that millions of Americans stand by ICE, but many more are disgusted by their conduct.
The only criminals were the scumbags hiding their identity and murdering peaceful protesters.
They weren’t cyclists. You really struggle with basic comprehension, don’t you?