MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Hundreds of anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis chased away a small group of far-right activists who had vowed to march into a neighborhood with many immigrants on Saturday, stoking tensions in a city that remains on edge after the killing of Renee Good by a federal immigration agent 10 days ago.
Anti-ICE protesters gathered downtown near City Hall, waving signs and shouting chants urging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents to leave Minneapolis, and dozens of them moved forward around 1 p.m. local time, forcing a group of about 10 far-right protesters against the outside of the city’s government center within minutes. Some in the crowd tossed water balloons that drenched the right-hander as the wind chill hit -4F.
The police kept their distance during the duels. About an hour after the rally began, a small contingent of right-wing activists quickly walked a few blocks away to a hotel, chased by hundreds of anti-ICE protesters who shouted obscenities and told them to get out of town. There were a few scuffles, but no serious violence.
Jake Lang, an online right-wing activist and one of more than 1,500 people pardoned by President Donald Trump after their felony convictions related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, organized what he called an “anti-fraud” rally. The crowd never got to hear Lang’s voice.
The counter-protest was organized by the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump.
Trump has repeatedly cited the scandal surrounding the theft of federal funds intended for welfare programs in Minnesota as a reason for sending thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota. The president and administration officials have repeatedly highlighted the state’s Somali immigrant community.
“We’re here to support our Somali neighbors, to ask our white allies to show up for them,” said Laura, 56, who, like all the protesters interviewed, asked that their last names not be used for fear of retribution from the federal government. “I’m here to exercise my First Amendment right because my neighbors can’t, they’re too scared to leave their house.”
Lang, who has made anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic comments, has said he wants to secure the US for white Christians. He was present at small pro-ICE rallies in Minneapolis this week, targeting Somali immigrants, the vast majority of whom are Muslim.
In recent weeks, to Minneapolis and St. About 3,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents descended on Paul. An ICE agent fatally shot Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, after she drove away after ICE agents ordered her to exit her vehicle. The officer who shot Good was standing in front of her car on the left. DHS said he was hit by the car and feared for his life, though videos show the agent staying on his feet and raise questions about how much contact the car made with him.
The situation has put Minnesota’s Democratic leadership at loggerheads with Trump, whose Justice Department has opened investigations into Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel and Franklin Paul)