The Minneapolis rally was part of a nationwide wave of more than a thousand protests against federal deportation policies over the weekend. They took place, among others: in New York and Philadelphia.
Why are Minneapolis residents protesting?
Who was Renee Good?
What was the reason for the ICE agent's use of the weapon?
What slogans were chanted during the protest?
In Minneapolis, a crowd led by a group of indigenous Mexican dancers marched down the street where Renee Good was killed in her car. The police estimate that several dozen thousand people took part in the march. They chanted: “Abolish ICE!” (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and “No Justice, No Peace – Get ICE Off Our Streets!”
“I'm terribly angry and devastated, but at the same time I hope that this will finally change something,” Ellison Montgomery, one of the protest participants, told Reuters.
The circumstances of Wednesday's tragic incident have not yet been clearly explained. Minnesota Democratic leaders called the officer's use of a weapon unjustified, citing available video taken by a witness. It shows Good's car driving away when the agent fired the shot. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in turn, claims that the officer acted in self-defense because the woman allegedly moved her car towards him after being asked to leave the vehicle. According to DHS, the agent tried to prevent the car from being used as a weapon.
Tension in the Minneapolis-St. Paul increased after about 2,000 people were directed there. federal officers in the largest ICE operation in history. Public anger was also fueled by an incident in Portland, Oregon, where a Border Patrol agent shot two people during a traffic stop. These events consolidated civic organizations under the common slogan “ICE Out For Good”.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that most protests have been peaceful, though he warned against property damage — there was vandalism and 29 arrests on Friday. “We will not respond to Donald Trump's chaos with chaos of our own.” He wants us to be provoked, added the mayor.
On Saturday, three Democratic Party congressmen tried to conduct an inspection at the ICE regional headquarters to check the conditions in which detainees are kept. However, they were refused entry. “We have made it clear to ICE and DHS leadership that they are violating federal law,” Rep. Angie Craig said. “It is our responsibility to ensure that detainees are treated humanely,” Craig said.
