Actor Giancarlo Esposito said it was “time for a revolution” in the United States and accused political leaders of fueling unrest through immigration enforcement during remarks at the Sundance Film Festival.
Esposito spoke at the premiere of The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, where he addressed recent federal immigration operations in Minneapolis and broader political tensions.
“This is time for a revolution. It’s time for it, and they don’t even know that’s what they’re starting,” Esposito said, according to remarks reported by Variety. He said “very rich, old, white men” were “exerting their power to suppress our own people,” creating “a feeling of civil war in the streets.”
He said the situation was “preparing the hate, teaching them how to shoot … to kill,” and described it as “a very insidious problem that’s happening in our world.”
#GiancarloEsposito says it’s “time for a revolution” in America as Trump’s White House fuels a “feeling of civil war in the streets” with the actions of ICE agents in Minneapolis:
— Variety (@Variety) January 28, 2026
“We have to stand up to it. They can’t take us all down. If the whole world showed up on Putin’s… pic.twitter.com/6lqbCo343j
Esposito said immigration enforcement was contributing to violence, adding, “We will not be iced out. This is not going to happen. They can’t take us all down.” He said large-scale public opposition could force change, stating, “If the whole world showed up on Putin’s doorstep or the Iranians’ doorstep or in Washington, they’d kill five hundred or fifty million or however many, but the rest of us would survive with a new world.”
He said solutions would not come “by deporting immigrants” or “by killing brown and even white people on the street,” and predicted growing protests, saying people would “show up and say, ‘No more.’”
His remarks came amid national attention on immigration enforcement. The Justice Department has now opened a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the FBI was examining the shooting with potential assistance from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and described the inquiry as preliminary.
A preliminary review by U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Pretti was shot by two federal officers, a Border Patrol agent and a customs officer. Video verified by Reuters showed Pretti holding a cell phone as agents restrained him on the ground before shots were fired.
The shooting has prompted changes to immigration operations in Minnesota and separate investigations by local authorities.
