88nine: Community Stories

On Saturday outside Milwaukee City Hall, solidarity showed itself in the form of hundreds of bike riders. They came together in the name of one of their own: Alex Pretti.A longtime resident of Green Bay before he moved to Minneapolis, Pretti would make the trip to Milwaukee for the annual Riverwest 24 bike ride. When the 37-year-old was shot and killed by federal border patrol agents while protesting against President Trump’s immigration operations, communities across the country looked for something — anything — they could do in response.Many of those communities banded together to hold bike rides in honor of Pretti. More than 500 people joined the one in Milwaukee, which added to the 100+ events held as far away as Finland and Australia. The sentiments shared at these rides centered on simple ideas, like the ones shared by Milwaukee resident Parabh at city hall.“We believe in our basic human rights,” he said, “and those are some things that no one can really take away from us no matter how hard things get.”