MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis on Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer and the shooting of two people in Portland, Oregon. Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful as protests took place in dozens of towns and cities across the country over the weekend.
The protest in Minneapolis occurred in a city on edge following the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”
On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow, and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice. Twenty-nine people were cited and released following the incident.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey emphasized that while most protests remain peaceful, those who cause damage to property or threaten others will face arrest. He criticized “agitators that are trying to rile up large crowds.”
“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said, referring to the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also called for calm, stating, “Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone. Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”
Walz added in a later post, “We will fight with peaceful expression, in court, through public debate, and at the ballot box. Keep the peace. And keep the faith.”
### Communities Unite in Frustration
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its largest-ever immigration enforcement operation. The Trump administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.
Connor Maloney attended the Minneapolis protest to support his community and express frustration with the immigration crackdown.
“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”
Despite subfreezing temperatures and a light dusting of snow, protesters including children carried handmade signs declaring “De-ICE Minnesota!” and “ICE melts in Minnesota.” They marched down a street lined with restaurants and stores that celebrate various nationalities and cultures through colorful murals.
Indivisible, a social movement organization formed to resist the Trump administration, reported that hundreds of protests were scheduled across Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida, and other states.
### Nationwide Protests Against ICE
In Durham, North Carolina, Steven Eubanks, 51, felt compelled to attend a protest because of the “horrifying” killing in Minneapolis.
“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”
Several North Carolina residents protested after seeing videos from bystanders and from Jonathon Ross, the ICE agent who shot Renee Good.
“When I saw that, it was totally unjustified,” said Matt Smith, a Durham protester. “I just cannot believe that we’re doing this, and every day it is something else.”
In Cary, North Carolina, more than 200 protesters marched through town against ICE. Mary Ellen Rickards told WRAL News in Raleigh that she felt compelled to protest after seeing video of Good’s death.
“I was angry, I was upset, [and] I was sad,” Rickards said.
Durham experienced ICE crackdowns in November, leading to student walkouts and multiple protests. In response to Good’s death, residents marched through downtown Durham for three consecutive days. While no arrests were made during the last two protests and on Saturday, some protesters on Friday spray-painted buildings and set off fireworks in the street.
Officials within the Trump administration, including President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, defended the officer’s actions, stating that Good tried to ram the agent before the shooting.
Matt Mercer, communications director for the North Carolina Republican Party, said the videos “speak for themselves.”
“It’s depressing to think that this person committed this in cold blood, then fled the scene, and immediately the White House and its supporters began blaming her for her own death,” Rickards said.
In response to the protests, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated:
“The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly, not rioting. DHS is taking reasonable and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers. ICE officers are facing a nearly 1300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, and gang members. Secretary Noem has been clear: if you obstruct or lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Law and order will prevail.”
### ICE Activity Across Minneapolis
In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration that began in a park about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot on Wednesday.
Despite the large protest, federal officers continued operating in the city. An Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed officers, at least one in Border Patrol uniform, approach a person following them. The agents, with long guns drawn, ordered the person to stop following them, issuing a “first and final warning” before driving away without detaining the individual.
In Richfield, a Minneapolis suburb, federal agents with covered faces warned journalists to stay back as they detained a man outside a home improvement store.
Protests in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, with minimal law enforcement presence, contrasting with the violence Minneapolis experienced following the killing of George Floyd in 2020.
Near the airport, smaller groups of protesters clashed with officers guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown on Thursday and Friday.
O’Hara said city police have responded to reports of abandoned cars after drivers were apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, a dog was left inside a car left in park. He confirmed that immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 callers have reported ICE activity, arrests, and abandoned vehicles.
The Trump administration deployed more than 2,000 federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to fraud allegations involving Somali residents.
### Lawmakers Snubbed at ICE Facility
Three congresswomen from Minnesota — U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison, and Angie Craig — attempted to tour the ICE facility inside the Minneapolis federal building on Saturday morning. They were initially allowed entry but were told to leave about ten minutes later.
The lawmakers accused ICE agents of obstructing their duty to oversee operations. A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies limiting congressional visits to immigration facilities. This ruling followed a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress challenging ICE’s amended visitor policies after being denied entry to detention centers.
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This story has been updated to correct that the people shot in Portland were not protesters.
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Associated Press writers Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed. WRAL reporters Flynn Snyder and Kirstyn Clark contributed from Raleigh.
https://www.wral.com/news/state/a5922-anti-ice-protesters-assemble-across-the-us-after-shootings-in-minneapolis-and-portland-oregon/