The anti-ICE protests sparked by the killing of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by a federal immigration agent are spreading beyond major cities to small-town America.
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Protesters took to the streets of communities from Black Mountain in North Carolina to Fort Bragg, California, as well as Minneapolis, Portland, and other big cities over the weekend, days after Renee Nicole Good—a U.S. citizen and a mother of three—was shot and killed by an ICE officer in the Minnesota city.
While federal officials have portrayed the shooting as an act of “self-defense,” accusing Good of trying to run over the agent with her car, video footage of the incident appears to contradict that account, and local leaders have strongly disputed the Trump Administration’s claims. The incident, and the shooting of two other people in Portland by Border Patrol agents just a day after Good was killed, have renewed public outrage over the Trump Administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. And that anger has prompted demonstrations in both cities and towns across the country.
Read more: Fatal ICE Shooting Sparks Scrutiny of Killings in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
In Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, protesters on Saturday held up signs bearing messages like “We support our immigrant neighbors,” “ICE out for good,” and “Justice for Good” as they gathered in front of the Columbia County Courthouse.
Meanwhile, in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, demonstrators gathered the day after Good was killed, displaying her photo and carrying signs that read “Her name was Renee Nicole Good” and “Abolish ICE.”
On Sunday, more than 100 people congregated in downtown Newnan, Georgia, to protest the immigration enforcement agency.
“I love my country, and I want to preserve the things that are important,” Laura Burroughs, who has lived in the city for more than three decades and attended the demonstration, told The Newnan Times-Herald. “I want to stand up for that, and I don’t want my neighbors to die.”
In Belton, Texas, about 100 people protested ICE outside the Bell County Courthouse on Sunday, the Temple Daily Telegram reported. Some held signs reading “No ICE in Bell County” and “Trump Fascism ICE = Gestapo,” among other phrases.
Read more: What We Know About the People Shot by Federal Agents in Minneapolis and Portland
Outside Fort Bragg City Hall in California on Saturday, more than 350 people convened to protest the Minneapolis shooting, according to The Mendocino Voice. Cars honked in solidarity as they drove by the demonstration, and protesters carried signs that displayed messages including “Cruelty & hate will never make us great” and “ICE shames America.”
On Sunday, protesters gathered in downtown Lawrence, Kansas for a peaceful demonstration, chanting phrases including “Hey, ho, I-C-E has got to go” and “We want justice, we want rights, we want ICE out of sight,” The Lawrence Times reported.
“This is NOT LA. Not NYC. This is deep-red KANSAS rising against ICE,” a user wrote on X, sharing a video of the protest in Lawrence.
More protests are planned in cities and towns across the country this week, including an in-person rally in Miami and a virtual rally and vigil in Joplin, Missouri, on Monday evening. Protesters are also planning to gather outside the U.S. Customs & Border Protection office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening, and another demonstration is set to be held in McMinnville, Oregon, on Tuesday evening, among other rallies scheduled for this week.
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