Vigil for Alex Pretti held at the San Francisco VA medical center
Despite the rain, hundreds of people came out to the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center Tuesday night for a vigil for Alex Pretti, who was recently shot and killed by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.
John Bowling was working inside the hospital when he heard the news of Pretti's death on Saturday.
"It was devastating," said Bowling. "We were working and the news came on. It was a hard stop. Hard stop."
Bowling was visibly emotional as he recounted the moment he found out about what happened to Pretti. Soon after, he learned Pretti was nurse at the VA Medical center, just like Bowling.
"That struck home," said Bowling. "To see one of us doing his best to protect people and being shot for it? Just what has the country devolved to?"
Bowling wasn't the only worker to see the parallels, many told CBS News Bay Area that they are feeling Pretti's loss in a deep and personal way.
"I could have been Alex," said a man who came up to speak. "Any of us here could have been Alex."
District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan spoke to the crowd, saying that as their elected leader she won't stop fighting the White House's immigration crackdown.
"We're going to hold the Trump administration accountable," said Chan. "We're going to hold ICE accountable. We will not back down."
Pastor Emily McGinley also spoke. She was just in Minneapolis on Friday for the Day of Truth and Freedom march aimed at opposing ICE's presence in the city.
On Tuesday, she shared this message.
"None of us are free until all of us are free," said McGinley.
As Bowling looked around, he said he was grateful to see there is some light in all of the darkness, his community.
"It's horrific that it took this to manifest this," said Bowling, gesturing to the people around him. "But it's so empowering to see everyone come out for the good of humanity, really."