Brad Brooks
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Hundreds of anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis chased away a small group of far-right activists who had vowed to march on Saturday in a neighborhood home to many immigrants, raising tensions in a city still on edge since Renee Good was killed by federal immigration agents 10 days ago.
Anti-ICE protesters gathered near City Hall downtown, waving signs and chanting slogans demanding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents leave Minneapolis, and dozens of them advanced around 1 p.m. local time, forcing the group of about 10 far-right demonstrators to rush outside the City Hall Center within minutes. As windchill temperatures reached -4 degrees Fahrenheit, some in the crowd threw water balloons, drenching the right-wingers.
Police kept their distance as the dueling protests took place. About an hour into the rally, a small group of right-wing activists quickly walked to a hotel a few blocks away, pursued by hundreds of anti-ICE protesters who screamed obscenities and demanded they leave the city. There were a few scuffles but no serious violence.
Jake Lang, an online right-wing activist who organized what he called an “anti-fraud” rally, was one of more than 1,500 people President Donald Trump pardoned for their convictions in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The crowd couldn’t hear Long’s voice at all.
The counter-protest was organized by the Anti-Trump People’s Action Alliance.
Trump has repeatedly cited Minnesota’s scandal over the theft of federal funds intended for social welfare programs as justification for sending thousands of immigration enforcement agents to Minnesota. The president and administration officials have repeatedly singled out the state’s Somali immigrant community.
“We are here to support our Somali neighbors who are asking their white allies to stand up for them,” said Laura, 56, who like all of the protesters interviewed asked that their last names not be used 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 afraid to leave their houses.”
Long, who has made anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic remarks, said he wants to keep America safe for white Christians. This week, he attended a small pro-ICE rally in Minneapolis and targeted Somali immigrants, the vast majority of whom are Muslim.
About 3,000 agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol have arrived in Minneapolis and St. Paul in recent weeks. Goode, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, drove away after ICE agents ordered her out of the car, and an ICE agent shot and killed her. The officer who shot Goode was on the left side in front of her car. The Department of Homeland Security said he was hit by a car and feared for his life, but video showed the agent still standing, raising questions about how much contact the car had with him.
The situation has put Minnesota’s Democratic leadership at odds with Trump, whose Justice Department has launched investigations into Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks; Editing by Sergio Nong, Rod Nicholl and Franklin Paul)