MN stands in solidarity with Los Angeles protests

St. Paul, MN – On June 11, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) held a joint rally at the Lake Street/Marshall Bridge over the Mississippi River to demand an end to Trump’s war on immigrants, and the militarized attacks on Los Angeles residents by local and federal law enforcement.

In the first six months of the Trump administration there has been an upsurge in the militarization of federal agencies as well local law enforcement. This rally came on the heels of the massive protests by LA residents against the increasingly frequent immigration raids by Trump’s ICE. These protests have been met with severe and disproportionate violence from LAPD and federal forces, with deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines.

Cedar Larson, a member of Women Against Military Madness, explained why that group opened up its weekly protest against U.S. militarism abroad to make connections with the immigrant rights movement, “Women Against Military Madness knows a military presence can never make women and girls safer. ICE abductions and the deployment of the National Guard in LA is a danger to all who call the city home. Wherever the U.S. military goes, violence follows! Here in Minneapolis, we have also witnessed violence at the hands of these officers – from ICE to the MPD, we must stand against violent and illegal attacks and repression.”

Minneapolis was also the site of a federal raid on June 3. Around 10:30 a.m. members of MIRAC received reports of ICE and the presence of other federal agencies at the intersections of Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue in South Minneapolis. MIRAC verified over 40 heavily armed and masked officers present as part of the operation, wearing insignias from various agencies, including FBI, DHS, HSI, ATF, DEA and ICE. The apparent targets of the raid were people inside of a taco restaurant. A call was made by MIRAC to the community to show up to the scene and document any racist or illegal activity by law enforcement. In the ensuing confrontation between community members and agents, officers sprayed tear gas, pepper spray, and shot pepper balls at members of the crowd. Due to the strong community turnout, none of the alleged targets of the raid ended up in custody.

Mira Altobell-Resendez, an organizer with MIRAC explained, “Here in Minneapolis, we won’t stand idly by as federal agents are allowed to invade our neighborhoods or those of our compañeros in Los Angeles and around the country. We have a duty to make it known that when ICE comes into town, our communities will show up to defend ourselves from their racist terror and the repression of our movement.”

Protesters denounced the militarized attacks on the Minneapolis and Los Angeles communities and called for strengthening ties and creating unity in a shared fight against Trump, and his use of federal agencies to terrorize working class neighborhoods of oppressed nationalities.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC #WAMM #MNAWC