Minneapolis, United States. Thousands of protesters rallied in Minneapolis and students across the United States staged walkouts on Friday to demand the withdrawal of federal immigration agents from Minnesota following the fatal shootings of two US citizens.
Minneapolis rally targets Operation Metro Surge
The national day of protest came amid mixed messages from the Trump administration about whether it would de-escalate Operation Metro Surge.
Under a national immigration crackdown, President Donald Trump has sent 3,000 federal officers to the Minneapolis area who are patrolling the streets in tactical gear, a force five times the size of the Minneapolis Police Department.
Several thousand people gathered in downtown Minneapolis in sub-freezing temperatures to protest the surge and the tactics used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with demonstrators including families with small children, elderly couples and young activists.
Personal accounts from demonstrators
Katia Kagan, wearing a “No ICE” sweatshirt and holding a sign demanding the agency leave the city, said she was the daughter of Russian Jews who immigrated to America seeking safety and a better life.
“I’m out here because I’m going to fight for the American dream that my parents came here for,” Kagan said.
Kim, a 65-year-old meditation coach who asked that her last name not be used, called the surge a “full-on fascist attack of our federal government on citizens”.
Local march near shooting sites and fundraiser performance
In a Minneapolis neighbourhood near the sites where Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two US citizens, were fatally shot this month by federal immigration agents, about 50 teachers and staff members from local schools marched.
Rock star Bruce Springsteen appeared at a fundraiser for Good and Pretti in downtown Minneapolis and played his new song “Streets of Minneapolis”.
Nationwide demonstrations planned across 46 states
Students and teachers abandoned classes from California to New York as part of the protests.
Organisers forecast 250 demonstrations across 46 states and in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington under the slogan, “No work. No school. No shopping. Stop funding ICE”.
How do you think the nationwide walkouts will affect calls to change federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota?