Hundreds of businesses across Minneapolis plan to close Friday in protest of the Trump Administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, where daily demonstrations have unfolded in the days since Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent.
The general strike, dubbed “The Day of Truth and Freedom,” calls for “no work, no school, no shopping” on Friday. Instead, members of the community can join a network of labor unions, progressive organizations and clergy in a protest march at 2 p.m. The group will march from The Commons in downtown Minneapolis to the Target Center, and then hold a rally inside the arena. It comes as brutal cold is set to strike the area, with the National Weather Service warning of dangerously low temperatures.
On Friday morning, the temperature in Minneapolis was -21 with a wind chill of -40.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images
People take part in an anti-ICE protest in downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
In addition to businesses, some of the state’s cultural institutions — including the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Minnesota Children’s Museum — will also close their doors. Several schools said they too would shut down for the day, though they cited several different reasons. The University of Minnesota and the St. Paul public school district said there would be no in-person classes due to the weather, while Minneapolis Public Schools were scheduled to be closed “for a teacher record keeping day.”
“We really, really want ICE to leave Minnesota, and they’re not going to leave Minnesota unless there’s a ton of pressure on them,” said Kate Havelin of Indivisible Twin Cities, one of the more than 100 groups that are mobilizing. “They shouldn’t be roaming any streets in our country just the way they are now.”
Other demands include that ICE agent Jonathan Ross be held accountable for 36-year-old Good’s shooting death.
Ross fatally shot Good in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis on the morning of January 7.
Video of the deadly shooting shows an officer approaching an SUV stopped in the middle of the road, then demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. At that point, the vehicle begins to move forward and a different ICE officer pulls out his weapon and immediately fires off several rounds at close range.
President Trump and many of his top aids have since come to Ross’ defense, arguing that the agent feared for his life. Others, have contended Good was not a threat, with state and city officials blaming the surge of federal agents in the area for the unrest.
Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images
Vice President JD Vance speaks in Minneapolis on Thursday. (Photo by Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images)
On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance traveled to Minneapolis, where he urged protesters to remain peaceful. He also demanded that officials cooperate with federal forces to ease tensions in the Twin Cities.
In response, Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of unfairly targeting Minneapolis.
“If this was about safety, then there would be a whole lot of opportunity to partner and do it. But this is not about safety. It’s not even about immigration. What we are seeing right now is that this is political retribution. It’s about causing chaos on our streets,” Frey told CNN. “(We) are getting targeted for doing one of the most basic things that we are required to perform as public servants. And for me, that’s speaking on behalf of my constituents. That is a responsibility that I have, an obligation that I have that is written into our city charter.”
With News Wire Services
