afp/dpa/taz | In Minneapolis on Friday, tens of thousands of people peacefully protested against US President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Unlike previous protests, there were no arrests, injuries or property damage, Minneapolis police told AFP. After the fatal shooting of two US citizens during deportation raids A nationwide day of action under the motto “National Shutdown” was called for in the city in the state of Minnesota.
The demonstrations spread to 46 states. People also took to the streets in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco against the harsh crackdown by the immigration authorities ICE. Schools remained closed in Aurora, Colorado, and Tucson, Arizona, as large numbers of teachers and students stayed away from class.
In Minneapolis, the protest was supported by rock star Bruce Springsteen. On Friday afternoon he sang at a benefit concert co-initiated by former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello for the families of the two people killed, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, in the traditional music club First Avenue his new protest song “Streets of Minneapolis”. Springsteen composed it in response to the fatal shootings. “This is for the people of Minneapolis, the people of Minnesota and the people of our good country, the United States of America,” Springsteen said during his performance.
In his song, the 76-year-old rock star addresses “King Trump’s private army,” which wears “occupier boots” and “has pistols strapped to their coats.” He is referring to the approximately 3,000 employees of the immigration authorities ICE and the border protection agency CBP that the Trump administration sent to Minneapolis to track down immigrants without a residence permit.
Last Saturday, 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti was shot on the sidelines of a deportation raid in Minneapolis. The US Department of Homeland Security initially spoke of “defensive shots” by the emergency services. However, video footage shows the already overwhelmed Pretti on the ground when the fatal shots were fired. The actions of the emergency services in Minneapolis, who shot the unarmed driver Renee Good there on January 7th, sparked outrage across the country and protests in some cities.
Meanwhile, the editors of the left-wing US magazine The Nation the city of Minneapolis and its residents at the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee officially nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The citation states, in part: “Through countless acts of courage and solidarity, the people of Minneapolis have challenged the culture of fear, hate and brutality that has gripped the United States and too many other countries. Their nonviolent resistance has captured the imagination of the nation and the world.”
Former CNN anchor and freelance journalist arrested
Two journalists were arrested on Friday in connection with previous protests: former CNN anchor Don Lemon and freelance journalist Georgia Fort.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi justified the arrests by saying that Lemon and others had carried out a “coordinated attack” on a church in the state of Minnesota. On January 18, demonstrators disrupted a church service in St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota, because they suspected the deputy head of the local ICE office was there.
According to CNN, Lemon and another journalist broadcast live that day as dozens of anti-ICE demonstrators stormed a church and interrupted a service.
CBS reported, citing court documents, that Lemon and eight co-defendants were accused of conspiring to violate religious freedom at a place of worship as well as violating, intimidating and obstructing the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship. According to CNN, a federal prosecutor said in court that Lemon “knowingly joined a mob to storm a church.”
Lemon asked the pastor of the affected church in an interview whether the protest was not covered by freedom of expression, which is enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The clergyman, however, condemned the action in his church as “disgraceful”.
Lemon spent Saturday night in a cell in Los Angeles, his lawyer said. According to US media, he was released without bail after a short court hearing. He is scheduled to appear in court again on February 9th, then in Minneapolis. Georgia Fort was also released from custody. Fort told CNN, Her and Lemon’s arrest while covering the church protest was alarming. Freedom of expression is being put into question.
“I’ve been covering news my whole career. I’m not going to stop now,” Lemon told reporters after his release. He stressed that there is no more important time for the free and independent media to reveal the truth and hold the powerful to account. The journalist rejects the allegations against him.
Journalists’ associations and the Democrats in Congress had condemned the action against the journalists as a blatant attack on press freedom.
Trump again sharply criticizes Pretti
After previously adopting a more conciliatory toneTrump again sharply criticized Pretti on Friday. He wrote on his online service Truth Social that the nurse was a “troublemaker and possibly a rioter.” Trump referred to a video that is said to show Pretti a week and a half before his death. In it, the nurse apparently damages the taillight of a federal employee’s car and spits in the direction of the emergency services.
After the great outrage over the deaths, Trump announced that he wanted to calm the situation. He sent his border commissioner Tom Homan to Minneapolis, who has since announced the prospect of a partial withdrawal of government forces. However, Homan did not say when this would take place and how many of the approximately 3,000 ICE employees would be withdrawn.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who had previously met with Homan, was skeptical. He posted on He once again called on the federal government to withdraw ICE agents from Minnesota so that the safety of the people there could be guaranteed.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice announced further investigations into a possible violation of Pretti’s fundamental rights. These are intended to complement the ongoing investigations by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI into the circumstances of the fatal shooting of Pretti, said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Meanwhile, the government in Washington went into a short-term budget freeze at midnight. In the dispute over stricter requirements for the ICE immigration agency between the White House and the Democrats, the US Senate agreed on a previously negotiated compromise on Friday. However, the text must be approved by the House of Representatives, which does not meet again until Monday. Both Democrats and Republicans expressed hope that the shutdown would only last a few days at most.