Thousands marched in Minneapolis on Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer and the wounding of two people in Portland, Oregon. Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
The demonstration was one of hundreds planned nationwide over the weekend. It occurred in a city still tense after Renee Good was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Wednesday.
“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who participated in the protest. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe, and that’s unacceptable.”
Tensions Following a Protest That Turned Violent
On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel drew about 1,000 people and turned violent when demonstrators threw ice, snow, and rocks at officers, according to Police Chief Brian O’Hara. One officer sustained minor injuries after being struck with ice. Twenty-nine people were cited and released.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey emphasized that while most protests have been peaceful, anyone who causes property damage or endangers others will be arrested. He criticized “agitators trying to rile up the crowds.”
“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement operations in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz echoed the call for calm.
“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone,” Walz said on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”
“We will fight with peaceful expression, in court, through public debate, and at the ballot box. Keep the peace. And keep the faith,” Walz added in another post.
Communities United in Frustration
The Department of Homeland Security reports that its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its largest immigration enforcement operation to date. The Trump administration maintains that 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.”
He and other protesters, including children, braved subfreezing temperatures and light snow, carrying handmade signs reading, “De-ICE Minnesota!” and “ICE melts in Minnesota.”
They marched down a street lined with restaurants and stores, where colorful murals celebrate diverse nationalities and cultures.
Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, because of the “horrifying” killing in Minneapolis.
“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”
Indivisible, a social movement organization formed to oppose the Trump administration, announced that hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida, and other states.
In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration, which began in a park about half a mile from the neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot on Wednesday.
However, the large protest did not deter federal officers from continuing operations in the city.
A few miles away, as the demonstration began, an Associated Press photographer observed heavily armed officers, including at least one in a Border Patrol uniform, approach a person who had been following them. Two agents displayed long guns and ordered the person to stop following them, stating it was his “first and final warning.”
The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.
In Richfield, a Minneapolis suburb, federal agents with covered faces pointed at journalists and warned them to stay away while detaining a man outside a home improvement store.
Protests in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, with minimal law enforcement presence, in contrast to the violence that followed George Floyd’s killing in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations occurred on Thursday and Friday between small groups of protesters and officers guarding the federal building, which served as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
O’Hara said city police have responded to calls about cars abandoned after their drivers were apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one instance, a car was left in park, and in another, a dog was left inside.
He stated that immigration enforcement activities are occurring throughout the city, and 911 callers have been reporting ICE activity, arrests, and abandoned vehicles.
The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal officers to Minnesota as part of a broad new crackdown, partly in response to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers are involved.
Three members of Congress from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building. They were initially allowed to enter but were told to leave about 10 minutes later.
U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison, and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of preventing members of Congress from fulfilling their oversight responsibilities.
A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C., to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.
Source: Associated Press. Reporters Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
