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In Minneapolis, tensions flared as several dozen demonstrators found themselves in handcuffs following a protest outside a federal building. The demonstration took place on Saturday, marking one month since a Minnesota woman tragically lost her life in an encounter with an immigration officer.
The woman, Renee Good, was killed on January 7 while attempting to flee immigration officers in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Her death, along with the passing of another local resident, Alex Pretti, weeks later, has ignited widespread outrage across the nation, highlighting concerns over the aggressive immigration policies under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The protest saw a significant gathering across from the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, beginning around midday. Tensions escalated when protesters hurled bottles and sex toys at the police, who were standing guard. According to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the situation deteriorated further when chunks of ice were thrown, resulting in property damage. A deputy was injured, and a squad car’s windshield was shattered, as reported on the sheriff’s Facebook page.
Authorities deemed the protest unlawful, subsequently ordering the crowd to disperse. While many protesters heeded the warning and left, around 100 remained, engaging in a tense standoff with law enforcement, which included deputies, state troopers, and conservation officers, according to reports from the Star Tribune.
Elsewhere in the city, on a snow-blanketed field in a Minneapolis park, hundreds gathered to pay tribute to Good and Pretti. The event organizers used the occasion to voice criticism against the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, describing it as akin to a federal occupation.
A Lakota spiritual leader, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, led a ceremony at the front of the crowd filled with people holding signs and American flags. Others shared music and poetry to honor the two people who have become central figures in the polarizing immigration debate in recent weeks.
A federal immigration officer shot and killed Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in her car in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Three agents surrounded her Honda Pilot SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from Good’s home. Bystander video show an officer approaching the SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.
The vehicle began to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulled his weapon and immediately fired at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moved toward him. The Trump administration called Good as a domestic terrorist who tried to run over an officer with her vehicle. State and local officials have rejected that characterization.
Pretti was killed on Jan. 24 during a scuffle with immigration officers on the street. Bystander video shows a half-dozen officers took Pretti to the ground. One spotted Pretti’s gun, which he was licensed to carry, and shouted “He’s got a gun.” Two officers then opened fire.
The Trump administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, on Wednesday announced the administration would pull 700 immigration officers from Minnesota — roughly a quarter of the officers deployed to the state — after state and local officials agreed over the past week to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants. Homan did not say when the administration would end its crackdown in the state, however.
Good’s wife, Becca Good, issued a statement Saturday saying that the immigration effort is hurting people in Minneapolis and no one knows their names.
“You know my wife’s name and you know Alex’s name, but there are many others in this city being harmed that you don’t know — their families are hurting just like mine, even if they don’t look like mine,” Becca Good said in the statement. “They are neighbors, friends, co-workers, classmates. And we must also know their names. Because this shouldn’t happen to anyone.”