UMW students protest use of excessive force by federal agents across America

by MEAGHAN VAN DYKE

News Editor

Following the fatal shooting deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, two American citizens killed by federal agents, UMW students organized and participated in campus-wide demonstrations amid increased opposition to the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in communities across the country.

The UMW Young Democratic Socialists Association (YDSA) held a candlelight vigil to honor those killed by federal agents during the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown that has brought chaos to cities such as Minneapolis, Portland and Chicago.

According to reporting by The Guardian, since January 2025, immigration enforcement agents have been involved with at least 39 deaths on American soil. In Minnesota, where Good and Pretti were killed, approximately 3,000 Department of Homeland Security personnel—including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol agents—have been deployed to enforce President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, which has included military-style tactics.

According to YDSA Co-Chair and junior political science major Keeley Butler, around 20 people attended the vigil and helped paint the Spirit Rock with the names of people killed by federal agents since President Donald Trump assumed office last January.

“We were prepared to be there as long as needed to make sure every name was on there and it was completed, and there was a moment of silence,” said Butler.

The vigil and rock painting lasted roughly two and a half hours and included help from unexpected volunteers, said YDSA Co-Chair and junior international affairs major Katie Dickinson.

“A lot of people who were there weren’t affiliated with YDSA, so they came there either by seeing us painting and passing by and asking if they could join [or] they saw it on our Instagram, YikYak, or somewhere else,” said Dickinson.

YDSA Secretary and sophomore philosophy pre-law major Shane Maguire helped organize the demonstration and was motivated to involve UMW students after attending a similar event for Good in his hometown.

“I remember I attended a vigil in my local town in Norfolk and I met up with another one of our club members there,” Maguire said. “We’re at the vigil, and we’re just like, ‘We should probably do this on our campus as well, just to raise awareness and have a discussion and talk about this really violent and really terrible issue that’s happening nationwide.’”

Although the vigil came after Good’s death, Maguire said YDSA hoped the demonstration would bring attention to the ongoing violence occurring in American cities at the hands of the Trump Administration.

“We put a lot of names on the rock for a reason. We wanted people to be aware that, you know, this is not an isolated incident,” Maguire said.

Although the club has received backlash from anonymous users on YikYak, Dickinson said the demonstration received primarily positive responses from the campus community.

“I have heard that there was some negative response to it, like very limited to people who are wanting to paint over it with the [Department of Homeland Security] or something like that,” Dickinson said. “I’m not super familiar, but that was also on a fully anonymous site. I haven’t heard any bad reaction from it, like from an actual person that I know, or something that is personally identifiable, which is good.”

According to Butler, staff members also expressed support for the vigil.

“I’ve talked to one professor who thought that it was a very, very nice tribute,” said Butler. “So yeah, I think at least regarding other things YDSA has done, we’ve gotten lots of faculty support for other initiatives and I think this is one of our most agreed upon actions.”

Maguire believes that student involvement in these campus-wide demonstrations reflects UMW students’ shared values.

“I think it’s a manifestation of our campus’s character and our spirit that we care about these issues that impact our community, that impacts our neighbors,” said Maguire.

Butler similarly felt that attendance at the vigil and student response were also indicative of campus values on the matter.

“I think that it’s more common to have these types of conversations at Mary Washington, and it’s a very heavy topic that’s on people’s minds, and I think that seeing that reflected in physical reality alleviates some of that feeling of isolation and fear and brings about a feeling of solidarity,” Butler said.