Thousands protest in Minneapolis after deadly ICE shooting as agents continue citywide sweep

The Minneapolis rally was one of hundreds of demonstrations planned for cities and towns across the country this weekend. It happened in a city on edge since the murder of Renee Bonne Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE creates an environment where no one feels safe and that is unacceptable.”

A protest outside a Minneapolis hotel Friday night that drew about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. A police officer suffered minor injuries after being hit with a piece of ice, O’Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests have been peaceful, those who cause property damage or endanger others will be arrested. He criticized “agitators who try to stir up large crowds.”

“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz echoed this call for peace.

“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it only took them a day to kill someone,” Walz posted on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from this horrible action. Don’t give him what he wants.”

Communities unite in frustration

The US Department of Homeland Security says the deployment of immigration agents to the Twin Cities is its the largest immigration control operation ever carried out. The Trump administration said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack the officers.

Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he was frustrated with the immigration crackdown.

“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that this is happening in our community around us.”

He was among thousands of protesters, including children, who braved freezing temperatures and a light dusting of snow, carrying handmade signs reading: “De-ICE Minnesota!” and “THE ICE is melting in Minnesota.”

They marched down a street that is home to restaurants and shops where diverse nationalities and cultures are celebrated in colorful murals.

Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday because of the “horrific” killing in Minneapolis.

“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We need to get up.”

Indivisible, a social movement organization created to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were planned in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.

ICE activity in Minneapolis

In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the protest that began in a park about a half-mile from the residential neighborhood where Good, 37, was shot and killed Wednesday.

But the large demonstration apparently did not deter federal agents from operating in the city.

A few miles away, just as the protest began, an Associated Press photographer saw heavily armed officers — at least one in Border Patrol uniform — approach a person who had been following them. Two of the officers were brandishing long guns when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and last warning.”

Officers ultimately drove onto the highway without stopping the driver.

Protests in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful and, in general, the presence of law enforcement has been minimal, unlike the violence that gripped Minneapolis during the 2000s. following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, clashes broke out Thursday and Friday between small groups of protesters and agents guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.

O’Hara said city police officers responded to calls about abandoned cars because their drivers had been apprehended by immigration authorities. In one case, a car was left in one park and a dog was left in another.

He said immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 calls have alerted authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.

The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal agents to Minnesota as part of a new crackdown linked in part to fraud allegations involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers participated.

Lawmakers snubbed

Three Minnesota congressmen attempted to tour ICE facilities at the federal building in Minneapolis on Saturday morning and were initially allowed in, but then were asked to leave about 10 minutes later.

U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig have accused ICE agents of preventing members of Congress from fulfilling their duty to oversee operations there.

A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration to enforce policies that limit congressional visits to immigration centers. The decision follows a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s changed visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention centers.