Walking through a cloud of tear gas, bookstore owner Greg Ketter vented his anger at immigration officials. After this video went viral, his sales skyrocketed.
Minneapolis bookstore owner makes headlines for conflict with ICE
Bookstore owner Greg Koetter’s harsh criticism of ICE officers in Minneapolis has gone viral. He has seen a surge in support at his store.
MINNEAPOLIS – Bookstore owner Greg Koetter is furious and won’t hold back any longer. And if it leads to the departure of more federal immigration agents from the city he loves, that’s a good thing.
Mr. Koetter, the longtime and mild-mannered owner of Dream Heaven Books & Comics on East 38th Street, went viral on a Jan. 24 video that showed him angrily cursing as he walked through a swirling cloud of tear gas deployed by federal immigration agents shortly after shooting and killing Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Preti.
Koetter didn’t know Pretti, but he had previously attended anti-ICE protests around the city, and when he heard about the shooting, he drove to Nicollet Street to join the growing crowd.
After walking through tear gas, Koetter was asked by a bystander if he was okay, and he blurted out, “I’m just angry.” “I’m 70 years old, and I’m mad as hell.”
Wearing a beanie, plaid jacket and a black scarf around her neck, Koetter momentarily embodied the frustration, sadness and anger felt by many Twin Cities residents and millions more Americans at President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. (Incidentally, Koetter is actually 69 years old, but I hastily said he was 70.)
“They just killed him,” Ketter tells the camera about Preeti in a choked voice.
Trump replaced Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, leader of Operation Metro Surge, two days after immigration enforcement agents, including Koetter, killed Preti and tear gassed the rally that followed. On January 27, President Trump told reporters he wanted to de-escalate the conflict, calling Bovino “a pretty outspoken person.”
Tens of thousands of Minnesotans have been demonstrating and protesting across the city for weeks, and Preti’s killing further infuriated a city already angered by the Jan. 7 killing of her mother, Renee Good, under similar circumstances.
The bookstore, which had been in the same location for 18 years, saw a surge in business after a video and accompanying photo of Koetter walking out of a cloud of tear gas went viral.
For most of those years, a yellowed copy of the Rev. Martin Niemöller’s World War II-era poem “First They Came” greeted those who walked through the door. This poem warns of the dangers of not speaking up for your neighbors when they are not like you.
Koetter said the feeling had been in her head for weeks, and that she had somehow expressed it in less-than-clear words. “I was angry, sad, frustrated, and I think that got through to everyone. I think I was speaking for them and I was speaking for millions of other people.”
Koetter said sales increased 700% in the days after the video went viral, with former employers and longtime friends reaching out, offering donations and offering support. He said several well-known authors helped promote the videos and photos, as well as actor and comedian Patton Oswalt.
However, there are some critics.
“A guy called me and asked me if I wanted to talk to the communists here, and he asked me if there were any communists here, and I said, ‘Yes, all of them,’ and he hung up,” Koetter said with a laugh.
Still, Koetter said he’s hopeful that in the end, people like him speaking out will make a difference. He said he was pleased to think the video may have helped tip the scales in creating pressure on Trump to replace Bovino. The only good thing, he said, is that either Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security loses her job or Trump loses his job.
“Bovino is gone. If it’s true that I helped, I’ll be very happy. I’ll be even happier if Kristi Noem leaves. And if Trump leaves, I’ll be overjoyed,” he said. “I just hope everyone sticks together.”
