Brooklyn Projects Skateshop is not staying quiet when something feels wrong.
This week the shop spoke plainly after a fatal shooting in Minneapolis involving federal immigration agents.
The response was a limited T-shirt that says exactly what the shop wanted to say. F*CK ICE.
READ MORE: Brooklyn Projects Owner Dom DeLuca Says F*CK ICE, Citing Anger Over Immigration Enforcement
The shirt went live online for a short window and was priced just above cost. According to the shop there was no interest in turning a profit.
The goal was to make a point and then take it down. The message was paired with a post that opened with three blunt words. Enough is enough.
That reaction came after the killing of Alex Pretti in south Minneapolis.
Pretti was a local resident and nurse who was shot by federal agents during an immigration enforcement operation. Federal officials claimed he posed a threat and accused him of serious wrongdoing.
Videos shared online and later reviewed by journalists appear to contradict parts of that account.
In the footage Pretti is seen holding a cellphone while filming agents. City officials said he was legally allowed to carry a firearm and witnesses challenged the version of events described by the Department of Homeland Security.
The shooting has fueled anger across Minnesota and beyond. State and city leaders are demanding an independent investigation.
A federal judge ordered authorities not to destroy evidence connected to the killing. The incident also intensified scrutiny of Operation Metro Surge which brought thousands of immigration agents into the state.
That operation has already been linked to multiple shootings protests and thousands of arrests.
For Dom DeLuca the owner of Brooklyn Projects the Minneapolis shooting was the breaking point.
When enforcement actions start ending lives and the official explanations do not line up with what people can see with their own eyes silence feels like complicity.
The shirt was his way of saying that what is happening is not acceptable and not what many people believed they were voting for.
As legal fights play out in federal court and investigations continue the shirt itself may disappear from the store.
The message was simple for DeLuca and his shop. When people are killed and the truth feels slippery saying nothing is not an option.
Brooklyn Projects Posted:
"Enough is enough.
What happened today was NOT what most of the country voted for.
We priced this tee right above our cost to send a message … rather than profit.
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It will be available online only until tomorrow and taken down.
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Link in bio as meta doesn’t allow tagging 🤔"