As a well-known journalist was charged for his coverage of rallies in the northern city, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Minneapolis on Friday in the most recent demonstration against US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In response to a demand for a “national shutdown” throughout the country, crowds marched with signs denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the organization spearheading Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
After two demonstrators, both residents of the United States, were shot and killed by federal officials this month, Minneapolis has emerged as the focal point of the backlash against immigration policy.
“I don’t think our federal government should be terrorizing our people like this,” Sushma Santhana, 24, told AFP as demonstrators yelled “our streets!” around her.
Following Bruce Springsteen’s performance at an anti-ICE event in the city, the crowd assembled in bitter cold. “Streets of Minneapolis,” a memorial to the two who were shot and killed in different circumstances, was just released by the legendary American rock musician.
Max Maffor, a 24-year-old protester, stated that his goal was “to conserve what we would consider our democracy and all the liberties that we get from living in America.”
Additionally, thousands of protesters carried banners outside City Hall in Los Angeles and New York, where immigration raids last year provoked demonstrations.
Due to Democratic outrage at the brutal immigration raid, which halted negotiations for additional financing for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the federal government in Washington went into a partial shutdown at midnight on Friday.
A journalist is accused of
After Lemon and other reporters covered a demonstration at a church where an ICE agent is a pastor, the Trump administration charged former CNN anchor Don Lemon and eight other people with civil rights crimes earlier on Friday.
According to the journalist’s attorney, he was arrested overnight in Los Angeles and his coverage of the demonstration “was no different to what he has always done.”
A DHS representative informed AFP that Lemon is charged with two counts of conspiracy to deny rights and interference with First Amendment rights, citing the fundamental protection of freedom of expression, including religion.
Lemon’s arrest was denounced by politicians and media activists, and Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries demanded his prompt release.
Jodie Ginsberg, the head of the Committee to Protect Journalists, declared, “This is an egregious attack on the First Amendment and on journalists’ ability to do their work.”
According to US media, Lemon was freed from detention following a brief court appearance in Los Angeles. His next hearing is scheduled for February 9 in Minneapolis.
After being freed, he declared, “I will not stop now.”
“In actuality, now is the most crucial time for a free and independent media that exposes the truth and holds those in positions of authority accountable.”
The 37-year-old nurse who was killed last week, Alex Pretti, was described by Trump as a “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist” after new film purportedly showed him fighting with federal officers, reversing his conciliatory tone.
The footage, which showed a guy identified as Pretti kicking and smashing the agents’ car’s taillight before they emerged and tackled him to the ground, was not immediately verified by AFP.
The video did not disturb some inhabitants of Minneapolis.
“Does the fact that the man kicked a car’s light imply that he should have died?” A Latino sandwich shop proprietor named Pedro Wolcott told AFP
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche informed reporters on Friday that the Justice Department has launched a civil rights inquiry into Pretti’s passing.
Renee Good, who was shot and killed by agents on January 7, is not the subject of a comparable investigation.
Mass deportations will persist.
In response to the murders, Trump said he wanted to “de-escalate a little bit” and named Tom Homan, his top immigration advisor, as his new point man in Minneapolis.
In contrast to his confrontational predecessor on the ground, Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, Homan stated that “certain improvements could and should be made.”
Additionally, Homan stated that his team was “working on a drawdown plan” for some of the more than 3,000 federal officers, provided the Democratic-run city’s local authorities cooperated more.
On Friday, he stated on Fox News that Trump was still “going to have a mass deportation.”
He stated that the administration was in Minneapolis “to save lives – to save lives of officers, to save lives of the community and do smart law enforcement operations.”
