Snow and rain poured down as hundreds of protesters gathered in Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Saturday, Jan. 10 to oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement action around the country, as well as the U.S. intervention in Venezuela.
It was one of many protests held across Michigan and the nation since Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother, was shot and killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7. Additional protests were planned Sunday.
The incident ignited an angry national debate as videos of Good’s killing circulated on social media. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have said Good purposely struck an ICE agent with her car before she was shot. Minnesota officials and witnesses at the scene dispute those claims.
On Saturday, protesters and groups in Detroit showed up for different reasons. They honored Good and advocated for actions including abolishing ICE. They also protested U.S. intervention in Venezuela, and urged the Trump administration to release Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who was captured, along with his wife, during a U.S. military raid on the South American country on Jan. 3.
Various groups participated in the protest ranging from Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America to Detroit Will Breathe,
The rally started at Hart Plaza, then protesters marched along Woodward Avenue to Campus Martius where they listened to speakers before marching back to Hart Plaza. Protest chants included “No Trump, no KKK, no racist U-S-A,” “The people united can never be defeated,” and “(expletive) ICE.”
Organizer Jonathan Mukes, co-chair of Metro Detroit Black and Brown Alliance of Democratic Socialists of America, said the protests are important to show opposition to imperialism and fascism. He encouraged attendees to take further action, such as joining the organizations at the protest or making whistle kits to alert people to ICE in the area.
“We need to show the people, we need to show everybody that we are principled anti-imperialists. We are principled anti-fascists,” Mukes said. “The most important thing is that this energy doesn’t die.”
State Rep. Dylan Weglela, D-Garden City, spoke at the rally. He said he sent a letter to President Trump asking him to release Maduro. He said he is a member of Democratic Socialists of America.
“A letter ain’t going to solve the problem. Who’s going to solve the problem? We are. We have to be fighting,” he said. “This effort doesn’t end today. I want you to understand it’s not enough to just come out here in the freezing cold and make our voices heard. We must get organized. We have to join groups that are organizing.”
Max “MAXIMVS” Fowler, of Detroit, painted his own protest sign depicting an ICE agent arresting Yeshua ha-Nosri, also known as Jesus. Fowler said if Jesus lived in modern times, he would be an undocumented migrant of the working class.
“He would look an awful lot like the people ICE (officers) are trying to dehumanize,” Fowler said. “The painting is trying to remind people whom I may not agree with, and who claim to be followers of his message, of this … It is trying to show, under the current circumstances, we would absolutely arrest, detain and brutalize the very person many of us in our country claim to have as their messiah.”
He said he’s currently working on a painting of Renee Good and hopes one day he can stop painting about immigration-related topics that are necessary right now.
“We’ve lost being human to each other,” Fowler said. “We’re fighting for the ideals of the U.S. where it means we’re all created equal and that we all have a shot and that everyone is held accountable.”
Livingston County draws crowd
More than 80 people held signs and shouted midday Saturday, Jan. 10 in front of the historic Livingston County Courthouse in Howell.
Protesters in Howell held signs calling for ICE to be abolished and quoting Good, referring to video that has circulated showing her telling an ICE agent “That’s fine dude. I’m not mad at you,” before she was shot.
Passersby in Howell both honked in agreement and showed middle fingers in anger with the protesters. One silver truck was seen swerving at protesters in the median before it drove off.
Kate Mazzara, 56, of Hartland, is a leader with Stand Against Extremism Livingston County. She said she hopes the rally shows people in the “Red district” there’s a community of people taking action to oppose the current government.
“The shooting of an innocent woman is a clear escalation of what’s been going on in this country,” she said. “I wanted to come out and honor her life and to also speak to and let people know that not only are we here, we’re not going away. We’re going to stay peaceful and we are going to fight for the government we want.”
More protests were planned for Sunday in Detroit, Oxford, Saline and Rochester Hills.
President Trump is speaking in Detroit on Jan. 13.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day — Monday, Jan. 19 — a rally is planned at St. Matthew’s and St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Detroit at noon.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
Contact Natalie Davies at ndavies@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hart Plaza protest draws hundreds opposing ICE killing of Renee Good
Reporting by Natalie Davies and Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
