MINNEAPOLIS — For the second frigid Friday in a row, thousands of demonstrators skipped work or school, and businesses shuttered, as a march took over downtown to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in this city.
The march, and an earlier demonstration outside the nearby federal building that has become a focal point for protests against aggressive immigration operations that have roiled this city for weeks, was one of several that spilled into streets across the country. Seizing on public outcry that intensified after federal agents in Minneapolis killed Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs nurse, six days ago, organizers called for a nationwide strike from work, school and shopping.
Friday’s protests in Minneapolis began early in the morning outside the B.H. Whipple Federal Building, where bundled up clergy, business owners and mothers of schoolchildren braved subzero temperatures to read scripture, chant “ICE out now!” and condemn federal immigration agents’ tactics, which have included using chokeholds during arrests and smashing car windows.
“No matter what you believe in, right now as business owners, we can all agree that ICE is bad for business,” Dylan Alverson, the owner of Modern Times Cafe, told the gathering.
Later Friday, protesters marched peacefully through downtown Minneapolis, chanting and toting signs that said “Please stop killing us.’’
“Everybody needs to see that there are this many people’’ opposing the federal operation, said Michael Sweet, a 37-year-old teacher.
In other cities across the country, crowds answered the call to protest. Marches unfolded outside schools and universities from Rhode Island to Texas, and teacher absences led to school cancellations in Colorado and Arizona.
In Washington, about 1,000 people filled the intersection of H and 7th streets NW, chanting and waving anti-ICE signs. Among them was Elyssa McNeil, a Howard University freshman who said she was attending her first protest. “I have been somewhat complacent,” McNeil said. Pretti’s killing “was a breaking point for me.”
In New York, volunteers spent hours shoveling thick ice from Foley Square in Lower Manhattan to accommodate hundreds of protesters, many of whom also said they were first-time demonstrators. Shuriek Rogers, 25, took the train from Long Island to protest for the second time, after demonstrating following the Jan. 7 killing of Renée Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
Across the nation in San Francisco, thousands of people poured into Dolores Park, many of them middle and high school students. “Minnesota called and the Bay Area answered!” shouted a speaker from the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “My family came from the Philippines and I want to support them,” said River Burazer, a 7th grader attending his first protest. He carried a handmade sign that read “No ICE” in Tagalog.
Pretti’s killing — federal officers’ second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis in less than a month — has prompted rebukes from city leaders and Democrats in Washington, and questions even from some Republican lawmakers. On Friday, the Justice Department said it had opened a civil rights investigation into the case, a day after White House border czar Tom Homan said the administration might “draw down” immigration operations in the city.
Many local businesses would cheer the departure of many of the approximately 3,000 federal officers taking part in the enforcement, said Ken Lin, owner of The Burger Place in Minneapolis’s Government Plaza, which provided beverages and snacks to demonstrators Friday afternoon.
“I’d say the majority of businesses that I know are hurting, especially minority-owned businesses,” Lin said, adding that an “atmosphere of fear” has slowed restaurant traffic. “People are afraid to go out of the house, even if they have a passport and visa.”
Pretti, 37, was fatally shot by two federal officers, accordingto a statement Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security that was sent to lawmakers. His death came two weeks after Good, 37, was shot in her vehicle.
Tuesday’s statement about Pretti’s death alleged that he resisted officers who were attempting to take him into custody, and “a struggle ensued.” One agent yelled that Pretti had a gun, and then two agents fired their weapons. Pretti was shot repeatedly and declared dead a half-hour later, the statement said.
The statement made no mention of Pretti brandishing a firearm, contradicting the Trump administration’s comments in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, who had initially accused Pretti of committing “an act of domestic terrorism,” sought to deflect the growing criticism against her department during a Thursday night appearance on Fox News. Asked by host Sean Hannity whether her characterization of Pretti had been premature, Noem said she was “using the best information we had at the time.”
Jen Nagel, a prominent Minneapolis-area Lutheran bishop, spoke to the crowd outside the Whipple building Friday morning after returning from Washington, where she said she met with lawmakers in the wake of Pretti’s killing.
“People are watching. We are not alone,” Nagel said. “And when the federal government turns to intimidation, even harsher violence … we keep doing the things, witnessing the harm, welcoming the neighbor, offering food and drink.”
Jennifer Arnold, a mother of a second grader, said the immigration sweeps in the city had pushed her and other parents to action. She said she was undeterred by news that the Justice Department is charging protesters who interfere with federal immigration enforcement.
“Without us, our neighbors would risk being kidnapped by masked federal agents, and so I have stood on street corners with my whistle outside of my son’s school at bus stops. I have organized people to get kids ride to school. I have delivered food to my neighbors,” Arnold told the crowd. “We will not stop caring for each other. And if you want to punish some Minnesotans, punish all of us.”
Rempfer and Brasch reported from Washington, Craig from New York, Kelly from San Francisco and Brulliard from Boulder, Colorado.
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