For different reasons from all quarters, a resolution denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis failed to pass at the Valparaiso City Council meeting Monday night after hours of comment and debate from the overflow audience.
Council Member Robert Cotton, D-2nd, submitted the resolution for a vote in response to requests made by the group Valpo Resistance at the Jan. 26 city council meeting that the mayor and council formulate and publicize a policy for dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the end, Cotton was the only council member to vote for the resolution.
Before the meeting, a group of about 75 Valpo Resistance members took their support of the proposed resolution on parade. They met at the southwest corner of Lincolnway and Franklin Street and walked the few blocks to City Hall. Timothy Leitzke, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, pronounced the names of those who have died since Jan. 1, 2025, in DHS custody or at their hands over a megaphone and the marchers refrained, “Remember them,” to each.
Upon their arrival at the west steps of City Hall, they were met by a handful of opponents dressed in Trump and ICE hats and attire. After some jockeying to put signs in each other’s faces and outshout each other, both groups moved inside without incident.
The business of the resolution was first on the agenda and the one-page proposed resolution was read aloud. “A resolution of the City Council of the City of Valparaiso, expressing deep grief and outrage at the recent deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both U.S. citizens who were fatally shot during federal immigration law enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last month,” the opening paragraph read. Six further points were also made.
Those who wished to comment publicly were allowed the floor first, with preference given to Valparaiso residents. Many people spoke, with a fairly even divide of support and opposition.
Timothy Leitzke, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, leads a march to City Hall Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in support of a city council resolution taking ICE to task for the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. (Shelley Jones/for Post-Tribune)
Sandra Nicksic, of Valparaiso, said the citizens of Valparaiso are apparently “pretty level-headed” and won’t interfere in ICE operations. She also said that people are judged by the company they keep and if folks “are hanging with the worst of the worst, they deserve to go. If you don’t put yourself out there and cause a problem and antagonize them (ICE), then you don’t have a problem.”
Alicia McGill, also of Valparaiso, said a resolution would be an honorable thing from a city that has banners of Martin Luther King Jr. on display. While she acknowledged there is certainly illegal immigration happening, she said, “The way you go about changing that isn’t like this.” She said police officers in America don’t wear masks. They wear badges with their badge numbers or even their names visible. They wear body cameras.
Marci Stearns, of Valparaiso, said members of her family were career law enforcement officers, including on the federal level. “I find this resolution offensive,” she said. “You do not speak for me and I know plenty of residents within the city you do not speak for.”
Bryant Mitol, of Valparaiso, responded to comments made by several supporting ICE raids that they said were rounding up violent criminals by quoting from a study by the libertarian think tank The Cato Institute that he said found just 4% to 7% of illegal immigrants are violent criminals.
Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-Large, said she and Council Member Emilie Hunt, D-At-Large, spent a considerable portion of the weekend drafting amendments they found the resolution to be lacking. “Speaking so broadly, but not about our local constituents, is a miss,” she said. “I think this deserves more time.”
Hunt explained that she was born and raised in Minnesota and lived for several years just two blocks from where Good was killed. She said the resolution falls short of what was requested by constituents. She said Cotton chose to file the resolution without conferring with anyone but Council Member Barbara Domer, D-3rd.
At the beginning of the meeting, Domer had said she would support the resolution if the language in the fourth paragraph was changed to reflect just one federal immigration enforcement operation. “I was told there was one operation,” she said of inquiries she made. The draft read “Whereas, Federal immigration law enforcement has already conducted regular operations in the City of Valparaiso.”
Council Member Diana Reed, D-1st, said she didn’t feel the resolution was the appropriate role of the council, which should focus on governing locally and announced she was also in favor of tabling it.
Councilman Peter Anderson, R-5th, read a lengthy prepared statement. He said while Cotton did reach out to him, it wasn’t until after the resolution was made public. He said he was opposed to tabling the resolution since only two members of the council worked on it.
He also commented on personal attacks he’s received via social media and aggressive remarks he’s seen directed at Kapitan. “We are not enemies,” he said. “We are neighbors. We live in the same city. We shop at the same stores. Our kids go to the same schools.”
Councilman Jack Pupillo, R-4th, read a statement he made at a council meeting in 2024 calling for the council to avoid social and cultural issues. “And here we are. How interesting,” he said.
Cotton defended the way he went about putting forth the resolution. “I embarked on trying to get this issue answered to the extent we are able,” he said. “I knew, because of the deadline, we’d have to put this thing on the agenda before noon on Wednesday.”
After consulting with new City Attorney Joseph Svetanoff, the council decided to vote on the resolution put forth by Cotton, not the call to table it for further discussion put forth by Hunt.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
