Hundreds place ‘I voted’ stickers at memorials of Alex Pretti, Renee Good

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (KARE) — Hundreds of people placed “I Voted” stickers at the memorials of Alex Pretti and Renee Good to mark Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Pretti and Good were fatally shot in Minneapolis by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents earlier this year during Operation Metro Surge.

Stickers at Pretti’s memorial

“We can’t change what happened, but we’ll keep fighting,” Caitlyn Hren-Borger said.

Hren-Borger, a Minneapolis resident, visits Pretti’s memorial often. This time, she left an “I Voted” sticker.

“Because Alex couldn’t vote, and it’s really important to be able to make our voices heard,” Hren-Borger said.

Hren-Borger said the memorial was “just really beautiful” as more stickers were placed.

Dan Weston, a visitor to the Pretti memorial, was among the hundreds who placed stickers there.

“It still feels like we have power,” Weston said. “It felt like we paid homage to change, and we won’t forget him or Renee or anyone else.”

Stickers at Good’s memorial

Peg Baier, a visitor to the Good memorial, wanted her sticker to be near Good’s.

“She can’t vote, but we can,” Baier said. “It’s one meaningful thing that we can do in her name.”

Carol Ohana, another visitor to the Good memorial, said the stickers give her hope.

“It gives me hope because it shows the good side of people,” Ohana said.

Baier said, “There’s so much hope and so much diversity coming back, and at the same time, this is Minnesota, and we’re still grieving. I want to think that her life wasn’t for nothing, that at least she became a focal point to galvanize people and get us out to vote.”

Visits to both memorials

“This is the best I’ve felt in a very long time today,” Jonathan Fondell said.

Fondell, a Minneapolis resident, visited both memorials.

“It seemed like the best way to memorialize them is to just sort of come and visit and say, ‘Hey, this is what I’m voting against, things like this happening,’” he said.

For those who placed them, the stickers represent hope.

“Our community is never going to be the same, but we’re here together,” Hren-Borger said.