Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis on Saturday to protest a woman was shot by federal immigration officials there and shooting of two people In Portland, Oregon, Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
The Minneapolis party was one of hundreds of protests Weekends are planned in towns and cities across the country. The city has been on edge since the murder Renee Goode Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials investigated Wednesday.
“We are all living in fear right now,” said Megan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who attended the protest on Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where no one feels safe, and that is unacceptable.”
Protests outside a Minneapolis hotel on Friday night drew about 1,000 people and turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at police, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. One officer suffered minor injuries after being hit by ice, O’Hara said. He said 29 people were arraigned and released.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests are peaceful, those who cause property damage or put others at risk will be arrested. He accused “agitators of trying to provoke large crowds.”
“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has called for massive immigration enforcement in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz echoed calls for peace.
“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state and it only took them a day to kill people,” Walz posted on social media. “Now all he wants is chaos to distract him from this horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”
Community unites in frustration
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the deployment of immigration officers to the Twin Cities serves its purpose. Largest immigration enforcement operation ever. The Trump administration said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles against police.
Connor Maloney said he attended the Minneapolis protests to support his community and because of his frustration with the immigration crackdown.
“I see them harassing people almost every day,” he said. “It’s disgusting that this is happening in the community around us.”
He was one of thousands of protesters, including children, who braved subzero temperatures and fine snow to hold handmade signs that read “De-ice Minnesota!” and “The ice is melting in Minnesota.”
They marched along a street lined with restaurants and shops, where colorful murals showcased different ethnic groups and cultures.
Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend Saturday’s protest in Durham, North Carolina, because of the “horrific” killings in Minneapolis.
“We cannot allow this to happen,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”
Indivisible, a social movement group formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were planned in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.
ICE events in Minneapolis
In Minneapolis, a coalition of immigrant rights groups organized the demonstration, which began in a park about a half-mile from the residential area where Goode, 37, was shot and killed on Wednesday.
But the massive protests apparently haven’t stopped federal officials from operating in the city.
A few miles away, just as the demonstrations began, an Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed police officers – at least one wearing a Border Patrol uniform – approach a man who had been following them. When two agents ordered the man to stop following them, two agents raised their rifles and told him this was his “first and last warning.”
Agents eventually drove the car onto the interstate without detaining the driver.
In contrast to the violence in Minneapolis, protests in nearby areas have been largely peaceful, with generally a minimal law enforcement presence. The aftermath of George Floyd’s killing 2020. Some confrontations broke out near the airport on Thursday and Friday between a small group of protesters and police guarding a federal building used as a base for the Twin Towns’ crackdown.
O’Hara said city police have responded to calls about cars being abandoned because their drivers were apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, a car was left in a park and a dog was left in another car.
Immigration enforcement is happening “citywide,” he said, and 911 callers have been alerting authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.
The Trump administration is deploying thousands of federal officers to Minnesota in a sweeping new crackdown, in part because Fraud charges involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 police officers participated.
Lawmakers snubbed
Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour an ICE facility at a federal building in Minneapolis on Saturday morning and were initially allowed in but told after about 10 minutes they had to leave.
U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of hindering members of Congress from carrying out their duties to oversee local operations.
Last month a federal judge temporarily blocked The Trump administration must not implement policies that limit congressional access to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who Indicted in Washington, D.C. Questioning ICE’s revised visitor policy after visitors were denied access to detention facilities.