CBRN event in United States of America on Sat 24th January 2026

MINNEAPOLIS ‒ Bookstore owner Greg Ketter is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore. And if that leads to more departures of federal immigration agents from his beloved city, well, good. Ketter, the longtime and otherwise mild-mannered owner of Dream Haven Books & Comics on E. 38th St, went viral after a Jan. 24 video captured him swearing angrily after walking through a billowing cloud of tear gas deployed by federal immigration agents shortly after they shot and killed Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti. Ketter didn't know Pretti, but he'd previously attended anti-ICE demonstrations around the city, and when he heard about the shooting, he drove down to Nicollet Avenue to join the growing crowd. "I'm just angry," Ketter blurted after a bystander asked him if he was OK after walking through the tear gas. "I'm 70 years old and I'm f******* angry." In a beanie and plaid jacket, black scarf wrapped around his neck, Ketter for an instant embodied the frustration and sadness and anger felt by many Twin City residents ‒ and millions more Americans ‒ at the aggressive immigration enforcement unleashed by President Donald Trump. (For the record, Ketter is actually 69 but got so flustered he said 70.) "They just killed him," Ketter said to the camera, his voice caught in his throat, speaking of Pretti. Two days after immigration enforcers killed Pretti and tear-gassed the subsequent assembly, Ketter included, Trump replaced the leader of Operation Metro Surge, Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. Speaking to reporters on Jan. 27, Trump called Bovino "pretty out there" and said he wants to deescalate the conflicts. Tens of thousands of Minnesotans have been demonstrating and protesting across the city for weeks, and Pretti's killing inflamed a city already angry at the Jan. 7 killing of mother Renee Good under similar circumstances. The viral video and accompanying photo of Ketter walking out of a cloud of tear gas prompted a surge in business to the bookstore, which has been in the same location for 18 years. For most of those years, a yellowed copy of the poem "First They Came" by WWII-era Pastor Martin Niemöller has greeted anyone walking through the front door. The poem warns of the risk of not speaking up on behalf of your neighbors when they aren't just like you. Ketter said that sentiment has been on his mind for weeks, and somehow came out in less articulate language: "I was angry and sad and frustrated and I guess that came across to everybody. I guess I spoke for them, spoke for millions of people." Ketter said sales are up 700% in the few days since the video went viral, with former employers and longtime friends calling to check in, to offer donations, to offer support. He said some famous authors have helped boost the video and photos, along with actor and comedian Patton Oswalt.