A growing memorial shrine for Alex Pretti, a protester who was fatally shot during a scuffle with ICE agents last month, includes flowers and messages in downtown Minneapolis, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. As public outcry in the city grows over the Trump administration's immigration policies, journalists covering the story have also faced challenges to their First Amendment freedoms. (Joe Dworetzky/Bay City News)
PART 1
I DECIDED TO GO to Minneapolis to see for myself what was happening. You can read all the news stories and see all the video clips, but it is different to be there, breathing the same air, feeling the same vibrations. I was in San Francisco last Wednesday when the idea took hold, but it took hours before I decided to do it. I had to get over the cold.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
At Local News Matters our mission is to provide our readers with news of, and from, the Bay Area. There are times, however, when national events have such relevance to our readers that we venture further afield. In 2024 we covered both the Republican and Democratic Conventions, with the goal of giving our readers a feel for what was happening on the ground in Milwaukee and Chicago. In this story we take the same approach to current events in Minneapolis. Many of the same issues are playing out in the Bay Area and in cities across the country — including, very much, the matter of a free and independent news media. Part 2 of the series can be found here.
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Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.
On frozen ground in Minneapolis: Why I went — and what I saw as press freedom is tested
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PART 1
I DECIDED TO GO to Minneapolis to see for myself what was happening. You can read all the news stories and see all the video clips, but it is different to be there, breathing the same air, feeling the same vibrations. I was in San Francisco last Wednesday when the idea took hold, but it took hours before I decided to do it. I had to get over the cold.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
At Local News Matters our mission is to provide our readers with news of, and from, the Bay Area. There are times, however, when national events have such relevance to our readers that we venture further afield. In 2024 we covered both the Republican and Democratic Conventions, with the goal of giving our readers a feel for what was happening on the ground in Milwaukee and Chicago. In this story we take the same approach to current events in Minneapolis. Many of the same issues are playing out in the Bay Area and in cities across the country — including, very much, the matter of a free and independent news media. Part 2 of the series can be found here.
Continue reading for free
Sign in to read this story and receive the weekly roundup in your inbox.
Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.
Please visit My Account to manage your account.
Joe Dworetzky, Bay City News
Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.
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