By Brad Brooks
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 in a heavily immigrant neighborhood on Saturday, raising tensions in a city still reeling from the killing of Renee Good by a federal immigration agent 10 days ago.
Waving signs and shouting chants calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the US Border Patrol to leave Minneapolis, anti-ICE protesters gathered downtown near City Hall and many of them marched around 1 pm local time, forcing the group of about 10 far-right protesters outside. of the municipal center of government. Some in the crowd threw water balloons that soaked the right wing as wind chill temperatures reached -4 F.
The police kept their distance as the dueling protests took place. About an hour after the rallies began, the small contingent of right-wing activists quickly marched a few blocks away to a hotel, mobbed by hundreds of anti-ICE protesters who were shouting obscenities and telling them to get out of town. A few commotions broke out, but there was no serious violence.
Jake Lang, an online right-wing activist and one of more than 1,500 people pardoned by President Donald Trump following their criminal convictions related to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, organized what he called an “anti-fraud” rally. At no point could Lang’s voice be heard over the crowd.
The counter-protest was organized by the Coalition of Popular Action Against Trump.
Trump has repeatedly invoked a scandal about the theft of federal funds intended for social welfare programs in Minnesota as a reason to send thousands of immigration enforcement agents to Minnesota. The president and administration officials have repeatedly emphasized the state’s community of Somali immigrants.
“We are here to support our Somali neighbors, they asked that their white allies appear for them,” said Laura, 56 years old, who, like all the protesters interviewed, asked that their last name 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, said he wants to secure the United States 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.
About 3,000 agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol have descended on Minneapolis and St. Paul in recent weeks. An ICE agent fatally shot Good, a US citizen and mother of three, after she drove away after being ordered out of her vehicle by ICE agents. The officer who shot Good was positioned in front of her car on the left. The DHS said he was hit by the car and feared for his life, although videos show the agent staying on his feet and raise questions about how much the car did to him.
The situation has put Minnesota’s Democratic leadership at odds with Trump, whose Justice Department has opened an investigation into Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel and Franklin Paul)