Hundreds of protesters against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) dispersed a small group of far-right protesters who had planned to march into a neighborhood with many immigrants on Saturday, escalating tensions in Minneapolis, where a federal agent shot and killed Renee Good 10 days ago.
Waving signs and chanting slogans calling for ICE and Border Patrol agents to leave Minneapolis, the protesters gathered near City Hall, many of whom headed toward a group of about 10 far-right protesters who had pushed them against the wall of a nearby building. Some in the crowd threw water balloons that soaked the far-right protesters in minus-20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Police did not intervene. About an hour after the protests began, far-right activists began walking briskly toward a hotel a few blocks away, followed by hundreds of anti-ICE protesters who hurled obscenities at them and told them to leave the city. Several brief scuffles broke out, but no serious violence occurred, N1 info reports.
Jake Lang, a right-wing activist and one of more than 1,500 people pardoned by President Donald Trump after being convicted of participating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, organized Saturday’s “anti-fraud” rally.
The counter-protest was organized by the People’s Coalition for Action Against Trump. The president has repeatedly cited a scandal related to the theft of federal funds intended for social programs in that state as the reason for sending thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota. The president and administration officials have repeatedly singled out the Somali immigrant community as responsible.
“We are here to support our Somali neighbors, they asked their white allies to show up for them,” said Laura, 56, who, like all other protesters, asked that her last name not be published for fear of retaliation from the federal government.
“I’m here to exercise my First Amendment rights because my neighbors can’t, they’re too scared to leave their homes,” she added.
Lang was at a small rallied in Minneapolis this week to support ICE and criticized Somali immigrants, most of whom are Muslim.
About 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents have been in Minneapolis and St. Paul in recent weeks.
An ICE officer shot and killed Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, as she tried to leave after immigration agents ordered her to leave her vehicle.
The officer who shot Good was in front of her car on the left side. The Department of Homeland Security said he was hit by a car and feared for his life, although video footage shows him standing still, raising questions about the extent of his contact with the vehicle.
The situation has put Minnesota’s Democratic leadership at loggerheads with Trump, whose Justice Department has opened an investigation into state Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Foto: Screenshot – n1info.hr
