Protesters are demanding justice for Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three who was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis this week.
Protests against President Donald Trump’s militarized anti-immigrant policies have spread across the United States this week, following the outrage over the killing of a Minneapolis woman by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The social movement group Indivisible said hundreds of demonstrations were planned for Saturday in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other U.S. states.
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“ICE violence is not a statistic. It involves names, families, and futures. We refuse to look away or remain silent,” Indivisible co-executive director Leah Greenberg said in a statement.
Stephen Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to join the protests in Durham, North Carolina, because of the “horrible” killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
“We cannot tolerate that,” Eubanks told The Associated Press. “We have to stand up.”
Trump administration officials justified Good’s killing, claiming he had turned his car into a “murderous weapon” and threatened the life of the ICE officer he shot.
However, video footage from the scene showed Good being shot and killed by ICE officer Jonathan Ross as he tried to flee in his car.
The incident has brought renewed scrutiny to President Trump’s efforts to deploy heavily armed law enforcement officers to carry out anti-immigrant crackdowns across the United States, and local governments are demanding that ICE agents be removed from cities.
The killing of Ms. Good, 37, a mother of three, comes as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launches what it calls the largest immigration enforcement operation in history in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
“Iced Out for Good”
Many of Saturday’s protests were dubbed “ICE Out for Good,” and organizer Indivisible said the purpose of the rally was to “mourn the lives taken and shattered by ICE and demand justice and accountability.”
In Minneapolis, a coalition of immigrant rights groups called for a demonstration in Powderhorn Park, a large green space near the residential neighborhood where Wednesday’s shooting occurred.
They said the rally was a call for “an end to deadly terrorism on our streets.”
Reporting from a rally in Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapallo said demonstrators were expressing anger, “but overwhelmingly what we’re hearing from people is that they’re here to demonstrate peacefully.”
“We also hear a lot of calls for justice. What I don’t hear is too much optimism that justice will be served in this case,” Rapallo said, referring to Goode’s murder.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who called for ICE to leave the city after the deaths, announced Saturday that 29 people were arrested overnight in police response to ongoing protests.
Frey stressed that most protests were peaceful, but those who damage property or pose a danger to others will be arrested.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said one officer was injured while responding to the protests.
Meanwhile, three U.S. congressmen representing Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility inside the Minneapolis Federal Building on Saturday morning and were initially allowed entry, but then told to leave.
U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison, and Angie Craig accused ICE officials of obstructing members of Congress from fulfilling their duties to oversee operations on the ground.
After being turned away, Craig said, “They don’t care that they’re violating federal law.”
