Press Democrat 1/28/26

As Sonoma County supervisors entered the chambers after a recess at their regular meeting Tuesday, many in the packed room clapped as Supervisor Chris Coursey took his seat at the dais.

It was the first meeting since Coursey broke with his colleagues in calling for an end to any communication sharing between the county Sheriff’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement through the jail. It was also the first time supervisors gathered since 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis as he attempted to film them and help another protester – the second fatal shooting by federal officers in as many weeks in the city that’s become the latest focal point in President Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

The incident sparked fresh outrage and waves of protests across the country, including in Sonoma County.

After years of pressure on the sheriff and county to cut all ties with federal immigration officials, Tuesday’s meeting marked a new, raw point in the local debate about how to address, if not confront, the increasingly aggressive and legally questionable immigration enforcement being carried out under Trump’s second administration.

Up until now, supervisors have voiced strong support for immigrant communities and crafted policies and dedicated resources to bolster local protections, while endorsing the sheriff’s policy of sharing only limited information sharing with ICE – about inmates convicted of serious or violent crimes, a more restrictive threshold even than mandated under state law.

Speakers on Tuesday cheered Coursey’s change of heart, which he made public in a Jan. 20 statement that stopped short of calling on his colleagues to do the same or pressuring the sheriff to actually change course.

“The moment to come forward – publicly, forcefully – is now,” said Scott Johnson, a west county resident.

Through at times tearful and frustrated testimony, speakers urged fellow supervisors to take a similar stance and to push the Sheriff’s Office to shift as well. Many were longtime advocates, but others were moved by recent events to speak for the first time.

While there was no sign of additional shift on the board, supervisors grappled publicly with the shockwaves unleashed after Pretti’s killing and wider reckoning over Trump’s immigration crackdown, with thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents deployed in the latest American city.

“We all know the amount of stress our nation, our state, other states in our country, have been under,” said board Chair Rebecca Hermosillo. “Our focus has been to work diligently on tangible efforts that will help mitigate the impacts of ICE when they come to our community.”

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Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo attends the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting at the Sonoma County Administration Building in Sonoma Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Beth Schlanker / The Press-Democrat)

Hermosillo and Supervisor Lynda Hopkins have led efforts to enhance protections and resources for local immigrant communities as part of an board committee formed to address mounting concerns. Hermosillo highlighted training and protocols for county staff on interacting with ICE, a clearinghouse website with local support resources, a soon-to-be-released countywide immigration enforcement response plan and the development of an “ICE-free zones” policy in progress, as well as a new $15,000 grant to the North Bay Rapid Response Network, a 24-hour hotline for reporting and responding to local ICE activity.

Hermosillo and Hopkins also noted that they were meeting with immigrant service providers to identify other gaps to be filled.
“There is more to do,” Hermosillo said. “I just wanted to share that I understand how challenging it is right now to be a U.S. citizens, to be a person of color in this nation, and we are working as best we can to help protect everyone.”

Supervisor David Rabbitt sought to add to comments he made in an interview with The Press Democrat last week following Coursey’s statement and before Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis. In that interview, Rabbitt said in part that ICE officers were being put in difficult situations by higher ups and that he believed most federal agents sought to use best practices and ensure public safety.
On Tuesday, speaking from the dais, he said he was misquoted, though he has not reached out to The Press Democrat to request any correction.

He called the two fatal shootings in Minneapolis “a horrific tragedy that should concern every American.”

Supervisors David Rabbitt, left, and Chris Coursey attend the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting at the Sonoma County Administration Building in Sonoma Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Beth Schlanker / The Press-Democrat)”I totally understand the angst, the frustration. I want to stand and shout. This is horrible and needs to stop. At the same time, who are we looking out for? Who are we trying to protect?… For me, that really needs to take center stage,” Rabbitt said. He referenced his support for all of the measures taken by the county so far, but also the sheriff’s public safety considerations in communicating with ICE.

[Read more at Press Democrat]

“We are all dealing with what’s happening in Minneapolis and across the country perhaps in different ways and taking different tacks. I believe here at the county, our number one concern is to make sure that – the people that we’re all concerned about – we take the decisions that are best for them at heart. Sometimes that flies in the face of making statements for statements’ sake.”

For his part, Coursey said “I’m not a person who makes a lot of statements just for the sake of making statements… but it’s important for people to raise their voices now when you see things that they cannot support in any way, and those are the things that are happening in other parts of this country, not here, but we all live in the same country.”
He emphasized that his statement was “a personal decision.”
“It was me following my own inner compass,” he said, while thanking Hermosillo and Hopkins for their work. “I believe that it’s valuable work toward the same goal for all of us.”

The roughly two dozen people who lined up to speak didn’t disagree, but it wasn’t enough for many.

“I really respect the work we’re trying to do with the ad hoc, and it’s not enough. We really need the noncollaboration ordinance with ICE. It seems like a little thing in the midst of everything, but our community has been fighting for this for years,” said Jennifer Fish, a Santa Rosa physician who said she works daily with at-risk immigrants. “Handing people over to ICE is immoral. It puts our community at higher risk,” she said, pointing to increasingly dire conditions at ICE detention facilities.

“Alex Pretti really hits home for me because he was a nurse,” she added. “He could be me. He may be in the future.”

You can reach senior reporter Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On X @marisaendicott and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.