LOS ANGELES — Hollywood heavyweights are joining a mounting wave of resistance against Immigration and Customs Enforcement after federal agents on Saturday fatally shot intensive care nurse and U.S. citizen Alex Pretti.

The shooting occurred in Minneapolis, where protests erupted over the weekend after an ICE agent earlier this month shot and killed another Minnesota resident, Renee Nicole Good, 37, during an enforcement operation. Similar demonstrations started cropping up in weeks prior as the Department of Homeland Security launched a sweeping immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.

Although government officials have claimed that Good and Pretti were both aggressors in their altercations, footage captured by bystanders appeared to contradict those claims.

Olivia Rodrigo, Pedro Pascal and other film, television and music industry notables condemned ICE on social media in the wake of its operations in Minnesota and across the country. (Likewise, attendees at the Sundance Film Festival, including Edward Norton and Olivia Wilde, criticized ICE’s actions and lauded the public for protesting them.)

Here is a list of celebrities who have spoken out.

Olivia Rodrigo

The pop rock singer slammed ICE in an Instagram story on Sunday, writing that the agency’s “actions are unconscionable, but we are not powerless.”

“Our actions matter,” Rodrigo continued. “I stand with Minnesota.”

The “Vampire” songstress also reposted a call to action by political commentator and digital creator Ben Sheehan, which called ICE a “murderous federal agency terrorizing an American city.”

“If you support this, you’re on the wrongest side of history you could possibly be on,” Sheehan wrote, urging social media users to call their senators and encourage them to filibuster an upcoming Homeland Security appropriations bill that would keep ICE funded at $10 billion for the rest of the fiscal year.

Pedro Pascal

Pedro Pascal attends the 95th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on March 12, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

“The Last of Us” star has shared several anti-ICE posts to his Instagram feed and stories. Earlier this month, Pascal described immigration enforcement activities as “unspeakable s— after unspeakable s—.”

Following Pretti’s shooting death, the actor wrote on Instagram, “Truth is a line of demarcation between a democratic government and authoritarian regime. Mr. Pretti and Rene Good are dead. The American people deserve to know what happened.”

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis arrives on the red carpet for the 96th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 10, 2024. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The Academy Award winner has repeatedly condemned ICE’s actions in Minnesota, writing Saturday on Instagram, “Let the ICE storm of resistance ring loudly.”

Curtis also shared a statement from Pretti’s parents, which pleaded with readers to “get the truth out about our son.”

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the statement said.

“Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact.”

Katy Perry

The pop singer in a Monday Instagram post encouraged her followers to “turn anger into action” by calling their senators.

“The power is in your hands,” the post read, followed by a script encouraging senators to block the DHS funding bill.

Billie Eilish

The “Birds of a Feather” singer this week called out her industry peers’ silence on the immigration crackdown. Eilish herself has regularly reposted anti-ICE statements on her Instagram story.

“Hey my fellow celebrities u gonna speak up?” she wrote in an Instagram story Monday.

Eilish also shared a video from her brother and frequent collaborator, Finneas, in which he called the government hypocritical for allegedly shooting Pretti because he had a gun despite yearslong defense of gun owners’ rights.

“You’ve spent 30 years straight telling us that children have to die so that we’re allowed to legally carry weapons everywhere in the United States,” the artist-producer said. “This guy was being beaten to a pulp on the ground, he didn’t draw his weapon. He had a weapon on him legally.”

Eilish also spoke out against immigration enforcement earlier this month while receiving the 2026 MLK Jr. Beloved Community Environmental Justice Award.

“We’re seeing our neighbors being kidnapped, peaceful protesters being assaulted and murdered, our civil rights being stripped, resources to fight the climate crisis being cut for fossil fuels and animal agriculture destroying our planet, and people’s access to food and health care becoming a privilege for the wealthy instead of a new basic human right for all Americans,” the singer said.

“It is very clear that protecting our planet and our communities is not a priority for this administration,” she continued. “And it’s really hard to celebrate that when we no longer feel safe in our own homes or in our streets.”

Florence Pugh

The “Thunderbolts” star in a Monday Instagram story reshared a post from NBC News listing the people who have been fatally shot by DHS since September.

“1 person being murdered is harrowing enough. 12? Killed by masked people with guns,” Pugh wrote. “Morals. Even that seems too light a word to use when it’s actually ‘are you okay with people being killed or not’?”

“No matter which way you voted, what you politically believe, is death truly the option that you support?” she wrote.

Mark Ruffalo

In a pair of Bluesky posts, Ruffalo called Pretti a “hero.”

“Cold blooded murder in the streets of the USA by an occupying military gang, creating havoc,” the actor-activist wrote. “We have fought wars in other countries for less than this.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The “Hamilton” creator on Sunday collaborated with his parents, Luz Towns-Miranda and Luis A. Miranda Jr., on an Instagram post translating Pretti’s parents’ statement into Spanish.

“This cowardly violence cannot remain silent. We share his parents’ words en español because they deserve to be understood by everyone. Alex was a hero. And we demand justice,” the caption reads.

Glenn Close

The veteran actor in a Sunday Instagram post said she is “outraged and sickened” by the Trump administration’s actions: “The sickening hypocrisy, the blatant manipulation of facts and now the cold-blooded murder of American citizens.”

“I have felt for a long time that there are thousands and thousands of American citizens with cellars full of guns,” Close said. “I fear that ICE is giving them the excuse to pull the trigger.”

The “Fatal Attraction” star said the country is “waking up” to the threats posed to American democracy: “Mark my words: there will be hell to pay.”

Kerry Washington

The “Scandal” alum in a Monday Instagram post encouraged viewers to call their senators as she modeled the behavior on camera.

“The time to take action is now,” Washington captioned her video. “Let’s do it together. Because if you think what’s happening in Minneapolis cannot happen in your city or your state, it can.”

Cynthia Nixon

The “Sex and the City” star on Saturday claimed that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was spreading “morally reprehensible and disgusting lies” about Pretti and his killing.

Nixon also shared the statement from Pretti’s parents and encouraged viewers to do the same.

Busy Philipps

Philipps in a Saturday Instagram post reshared statements demanding justice for Pretti as well as the defunding of ICE.

“They will just keep murdering people and lying as long as they can,” the “Girls5eva” actor said, encouraging her followers to “take to the streets” and “boycott the businesses and people that support this.”

Martha Stewart

The television personality shared Monday on Instagram that her 14-year-old granddaughter — who is “sensitive to what is going on in our country as we all should be” — over the weekend messaged her, “I’m not sure it’s excusable to not be speaking up right now.”

Stewart said she took the sentiment to heart, writing, “I am disheartened and sad each and every day that we cannot demonstrate our sympathy for the beleaguered, that we are told immigrants, which most of us are or descended from, are unwelcome, that we cannot show our frustration in peaceful demonstrations and that we can be attacked and even killed by federal troops.”

“Things must and have to change quickly and peacefully,” she wrote.

Hannah Einbinder

The “Hacks” star in a Tuesday Instagram story said, “I’ve been trying to put my finger on why I have such a deep seated resentment towards people who haven’t used their platform to speak up against ICE.”

“I think it’s because, as a Jewish American in the diaspora, my entire life has been in the shadow of the Holocaust. I was given an in-depth education of exactly how a thing like that happens,” Einbinder wrote.

“I am watching the beginning of what took place in Germany before the Holocaust here in America and I take it incredibly personally when I see people with massive platforms refrain from using their voice to organize and rally their followers to try and stop it,” she continued, encouraging her industry peers and followers alike to stand up for immigrants.

The Chicks

“It’s happening right in front of us. They are killing Americans, disappearing human beings, and breaking up families,” country band the Chicks captioned a photo of a protest sign referencing their song “Not Ready to Make Nice.” (The group penned the ballad after lead singer Natalie Maines was widely slammed for criticizing then-President George W. Bush during a concert.)

“We cannot stand by and watch democracy disintegrate,” the band wrote. “Human decency isn’t Republican or Democrat. It’s American.”

Jonathan Van Ness

The “Queer Eye” star in a Saturday post on Threads wrote, “They charged tax payers $85 BILLION for ice to terrorize America. Tear gassing, beating, detaining innocent protestors / people, and they just killed another human being.”

Kristen Schaal

In an X post thanking fans for birthday well wishes, the comedian and “Bob’s Burgers” voice actor wrote, “I will remember this birthday as the day that Alex Pretti was held down on the street by 6 ICE agents and murdered. Shot to death. After he was sprayed in the face.”

Schaal continued: “I will remember @realDonaldTrump & everyone who works for & worships him saying this didn’t happen.”

Matt Rogers

The “Las Culturistas” co-host in a Monday Instagram story called for the abolishment of ICE: “This is too much collective pain for us to handle. It must stop.”

“Stop the terror and violence now,” Rogers wrote.

Kate Berlant

Berlant, who has previously spoken against ICE action in her native L.A., in a Tuesday Instagram story encouraged her followers to boycott the federal agency’s corporate collaborators, including Amazon, Whole Foods and Palantir.

Walton Goggins

“The White Lotus” star shared several anti-ICE posts over the weekend, writing in one Instagram story, “Alex Pretti was murdered. Renee Good was MURDERED. This isn’t about what political party any of us are affiliated with. This is about Humanity… this is … wrong.”

Mandy Moore

The “This Is Us” actor reshared media coverage of the events in Minnesota, writing, “We have eyeballs. We’ve seen the video. They executed someone else. I’m not sure how this ends. This is terrifying territory.”

Others including Ariana Grande, Jennifer Aniston, Amanda Seyfried, Hilary Swank and Justin Theroux have reshared anti-ICE content and resources for protesters on social media.

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The North Shore business owner accused of burning down the historic Lutsen Resort lodge nearly two years ago is now suing his insurer for refusing to pay out a $16.5 million claim.

Bryce Campbell, through his North Shore Resort Co., filed the case against Michigan-based Owners Insurance Co. in U.S. District Court on Friday — the same day the insurer formally denied liability for the loss, according to the complaint.

The North Shore landmark burned to the ground in the early morning hours of Feb. 6, 2024, leaving only the foundation and a pair of chimneys standing among the charred rubble of the iconic lodge that had stood on the shore of Lake Superior since 1952.

A photo of Bryce James Campbell via Oakland County Jail in Pontiac, Michigan, where he was booked on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Courtesy of Oakland County Jail / Forum News Service)

Campbell has repeatedly denied any involvement in the fire, but he was arrested and charged in Cook County District Court last month following a lengthy investigation led by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The civil complaint does not address any specific facts or allegations related to the fire and the investigation. It simply notes Campbell “timely made a claim for coverage … submitted satisfactory proof of loss and complied with all other requirements of the policy and conditions precedent to coverage.”

The complaint contends Owners breached that contract, seeks an appraisal to “conclusively establish the amount of its loss” and asks for 10% annual interest on the money Campbell is allegedly owed.

The document does not identify the total amount of Campbell’s claim, but the criminal complaint revealed that he was seeking at least $16.56 million.

Campbell, 41, had increased the insurance policy several times since purchasing the property for $6.75 million in 2018. Records cited in the criminal case indicate the policy went from $8.5 million to $13 million in the two years before the fire.

The property’s appraised value was on the rise, and he was completing an extensive renovation with plans to open guest rooms on the long-shuttered third floor of the lodge.

Authorities said Campbell was in serious financial trouble and had seemingly joked about burning it down in the days before the fire. His three businesses reportedly had more than $14 million in past-due and near-due debts, and just $34,000 in their collective bank accounts.

He subsequently faced a number of lawsuits from contractors, employees and cabin owners seeking unpaid debts, and a judge stripped him of control of Superior Shores Resort in Two Harbors.

The criminal complaint alleges that Campbell was inside the Lutsen Lodge less than an hour before the smoke was first reported and that a possible accelerant was found on a partially disassembled water heater in a basement boiler room.

Insurance investigators interviewed Campbell several times and worked closely alongside state authorities at the fire scene, according to the criminal filings. His claim attributed the loss to a “fire of unknown origin” and he attested that it was not the result of any intentional act.

The civil complaint was filed by Duluth attorney Scott Witty a

Lutsen Lodge before it was destroyed by fire. (Forum News Service)

nd Jason Liss, a property insurance litigation specialist based in Michigan. Owners, a subsidiary of Auto-Owners Insurance Group, has 21 days to file a formal answer.

The case has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois in Duluth and District Judge Eric Tostrud in St. Paul.

Campbell, a Canadian citizen, posted a $100,000 bond to be freed under pretrial supervision after he was charged with three counts of first-degree arson and one count of insurance fraud. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 9.

The criminal case has been assigned to Judge Michelle Anderson, of Virginia, as Campbell exercised his right to remove Judge Steve Hanke, the lone North Shore judge, who had presided over his numerous civil entanglements.

It remains to be seen how quickly that case will proceed to trial, as attorneys have cited voluminous evidence and Campbell may consider pretrial challenges to probable cause and constitutional issues. It’s also unclear whether the case will be heard in Cook County or moved to another courthouse.

DULUTH, Minn. — Federal prosecutors on Monday dropped a criminal case against a Guatemalan man who was accused of ramming an immigration enforcement vehicle outside an Iron Range restaurant earlier this month.

However, the 19-year-old remains in federal custody and still faces administrative proceedings that could result in his deportation from the country.

Jose Miguel Espinoza-Espinoza appeared in U.S. District Court in Duluth on a charge of assaulting a federal officer in the Jan. 16 incident outside Cazadores Mexican Food in Virginia.

But the hearing ended almost as soon as it began. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Endicott moved to dismiss the complaint, informing the court he did not have a federal agent available to testify about the circumstances of the alleged crime.

Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois summarily granted the request, finding the government failed to meet its burden of establishing probable cause to support the charge.

It is believed to be the first time the Justice Department has backed away from prosecuting a suspect for an alleged assault against federal officers amid the ongoing crackdown in Minnesota, according to the New York Times.

State Sen. Jen McEwen and Rep. Liish Kozlowski, both DFL-Duluth, attended the hearing and sat behind Espinoza, who required a Spanish-language interpreter.

The legislators later conferred with his attorney outside the courtroom, as well as a handful of community members who gathered to support Espinoza.

“It’s important that we bear witness and make sure that folks are getting access to their constitutional rights and legal representation,” Kozlowski said. “We’re here to wrap around this community with care and support for the family members, as well as the people who are being, frankly, snatched up and taken from our communities.”

Agent reportedly injured finger

Court filings say several agents were on the scene from Homeland Security Investigations as well as Enforcement and Removal Operations, both divisions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

They were reportedly conducting surveillance near Cazadores, 1440 S. 12th Ave. W., when they saw Espinoza arrive in a Mazda 6 that had previously been identified by U.S. Border Patrol agents in International Falls as “being suspected of transporting illegal aliens.”

The complaint says three unidentified men got out of the car and entered the restaurant after arriving in the parking lot around 9:30 a.m. Agents wearing body armor marked “HSI” and “police” approached the car as Espinoza remained in the driver’s seat.

The affidavit alleges that an agent tried to open the door to question Espinoza, but he “rapidly accelerated,” causing an injury to the HSI agent’s finger. The Mazda then crashed into the front of a Ford Explorer, which was occupied by an ERO officer, approximately 10 feet away.

Agents told the court that Espinoza resisted arrest, ignoring commands in Spanish to show his hands, before they were able to handcuff him. He reportedly declined any medical care.

The complaint further alleges that he refused to provide his name and country of birth when initially taken to the Virginia Police Department headquarters. However, later at the Border Patrol station in Duluth, he allegedly identified himself and admitted he is a native of Guatemala who is in the United States illegally.

ICE publicized the incident in a Jan. 18 social media post, saying it is “just one of many” that have contributed to a major increase in vehicles being used as a weapon against agents. However, the agency did not, at the time, specify where the incident occurred.

The complaint was filed last week, with Espinoza making an initial appearance via video conference Wednesday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office requested his continued detention, and without a grand jury indictment in place, prosecutors needed to establish probable cause at Monday’s hearing in order to proceed with the case.

In dismissing the complaint, Brisbois noted the action “in no way affects” the administrative immigration process. He remains in the Douglas County Jail on a federal detainer, and ICE has indicated he faces deportation.

Public defender Siri Carlson McDowell declined to comment after the hearing.

Latest ICE action in Northland

The Northland has seen several immigration enforcement actions in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second administration. Roofers were arrested in Duluth last February and April, and eight people were arrested by ICE as part of a drug investigation connected to two Hibbing restaurants in October.

However, the Twin Cities area has been the epicenter of Trump’s crackdown, with “Operation Metro Surge” bringing thousands of agents to the area this month. The shooting deaths of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have set off nationwide protests and now have the federal government on the verge of a shutdown over Homeland Security funding.

Kozlowski and McEwen said they have been inundated with immigration-related calls in recent weeks. Many of the people arrested by ICE are “essentially disappeared,” McEwen said, in a system that is legally a civil process, not law enforcement.

“We are seeing, basically, an armed, right-wing militia occupying our state, trying to carry out that civil duty that is really the only duty that they’re supposed to have,” the senator said. “It’s really horrifying. It’s very scary for our entire community, and it’s traumatizing.”

The legislators said the case underscores the fact that northeastern Minnesota is not immune from the “siege,” and they again drew attention to the fact that Douglas County houses detainees for ICE.

“Latino, Asian, Somali and Native Americans are being racially profiled, and that is leading to this obliteration of rights,” Kozlowski said. “Sen. McEwen and I are standing firm to say ‘hell no.’ Not in our community, not in our state, not anywhere.”

Be specific. It’s advice that writers get all the time. Readers can glaze over at statistics that prove a point or yawn at vague descriptions, but take them inside an experience with vivid details and they’re more likely to stay with you as you make a point or spin a story.

For example, if you wish to discuss the Holocaust that swept through Europe in the 1930s and ‘40s, leaving millions dead in its wake — most of them Jewish — the scope of the Nazi industrialized extermination process can be so overwhelming that one couldn’t be blamed for avoiding the topic, purely for emotional self-preservation.

But listen to a captivating story of how one person found a way to survive the carnage and you could find it grippingly dramatic. Such a tale is the picaresque odyssey of Eddie Jaku, a Jew from Leipzig, Germany, who was an adolescent when the Nazis came to power, yet found his way through the horrors of the Holocaust and lived to the age of 101 before dying earlier this decade.

JC Cutler stars in Six Points Theater’s production of “The Happiest Man on Earth,” a solo show by Mark St. Germain based upon the memoir of Eddie Jaku, who recounts his experiences during the Holocaust and his healing process afterward. The show runs through Feb. 8, 2026 at Six Points Theater in St. Paul. (Sarah Whiting / Six Points Theater)

It’s to our great benefit that Jaku wrote a memoir called “The Happiest Man on Earth,” which became a bestseller upon its 2020 release. We are further blessed that playwright Mark St. Germain created a 65-minute solo show from Jaku’s story that’s receiving a deeply involving production from St. Paul’s Six Points Theater.

Performed by local actor JC Cutler — a veteran of more than 50 Guthrie Theater productions, including several years as Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” — it’s a masterful piece of storytelling that takes audiences inside the horror and heartbreak endured by the protagonist. But it’s also a thrilling adventure story of escape and an inspiring tale of a durable spirit who refuses to abandon his optimism. And it might be the ideal theatrical experience for anyone feeling beaten down by the trauma currently being visited upon Twin Cities streets.

Unlike the Jewish protagonist in Roman Polanski’s film, “The Pianist” — who successfully hides in Warsaw, Poland, throughout the Nazi occupation and ensuing war — Jaku was a man on the move, often walking for days across multiple European countries to flee the murderous purges. As in such Alfred Hitchcock films as “The 39 Steps,” Jaku is an innocent man forced to use his wits to wriggle out of danger, episodes Cutler makes compellingly suspenseful.

One asset Jaku possesses is being an experienced mechanical engineer. It serves to save his life when the Nazis find him of value and also to facilitate his escapes, as when he partially disassembles the train car he’s riding in toward the Auschwitz death camp, resulting in one of the show’s most heart-quickening tales.

Throughout, Cutler and director Ben McGovern collaborate to create an expertly executed example of the art of storytelling, one ably aided by C. Andrew Mayer’s excellent sound design. Cutler so fully inhabits Jaku that you could forget this is a theater production and believe yourself to be having the rare privilege of seeing history through the eyes of a primary source. He employs such impeccable timing, subtlety and disarming openness that this is likely to stand as one of the Twin Cities’ best performances of 2026.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

Six Points Theater’s ‘The Happiest Man on Earth’

When: Through Feb. 8

Where: Highland Park Community Center, 1978 Ford Parkway, St. Paul

Tickets: $35-$15, available at 651-647-4315 or sixpointstheater.org

Capsule: A gripping story of survival and unyielding optimism.

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