Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer will speak Wednesday at the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, D.C., delivering remarks focused on policing.

Dyer is expected to echo comments he made last week criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics used in recent high-profile deaths in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

ICE agents shot and killed two protesters there, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, in separate incidents since the Trump administration flooded the city with 3,000 federal agents. In both cases, administration officials said that federal agents feared for their lives before firing the lethal shots.

Dyer will join Providence, Rhode Island Mayor Brett Smiley in a session titled “Current Issues in Policing.” Dyer has delivered similar addresses at the conference’s winter meetings in the past and serves as a trustee in the organization’s leadership.

Before first winning election as mayor in 2020, Dyer spent 19 years as Fresno’s police chief and more than 40 years overall with the department.

The session is scheduled for Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. Pacific time at the Marriott Marquis.

“The session will feature an informal roundtable discussion that will provide an opportunity for mayors and police chiefs to share information on the public safety issues facing their cities and discuss successful efforts and programs underway to address them,” the conference’s website says.

Dyer will also serve as a panelist during the conference’s opening session, hosted by conference president and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt.

Dyer Spoke on ICE Last Week

Dyer told GV Wire’s Bill McEwen that ICE’s recent actions will be part of his discussion. The mayor was not available for comment on Monday as he was traveling.

During a speech at Fresno’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration last week, Dyer criticized federal immigration enforcement efforts in the Twin Cities.

“Federal military personnel are law enforcement agents being deployed into cities across America — without being requested by local governments. Federal agents that are not trusted or respected by these communities but rather seen as occupying forces,” Dyer said. “Federal agents using tactics that have shocked the conscience of America. Tactics that were abandoned long ago by local and state law enforcement agencies.”

Dyer reiterated a similar message during a Jan. 21 speech to the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation, emphasizing unity amid heightened tensions.

“We can’t control what comes out of Washington, D.C. We cannot control some of the things that are occurring with certain federal law enforcement agencies operating in the manner in which they do, with tactics that, quite frankly, law enforcement abandoned more than 20 years ago at the local and state level.

“Don’t let the hatred and the anger and all of those things control you. Stay positive, stay upbeat, and stay united as one people,” Dyer said.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors issued a statement calling the latest shooting of Alex Pretti “another tragedy.”

“We state today with a united voice that this turmoil must come to an end. No American — regardless of their views on immigration — wishes for our country to continue to endure this unnecessary conflict. We mourn with those affected, and we stand with local leaders and local law enforcement courageously navigating this unnecessary chaos,” the conference said.