Zonia Latson
Anti-ICE protestors besieged a downtown Minneapolis hotel on Friday night after rumors circulated that federal agents were staying there following the shooting of Renee Nicole Good.
Masked demonstrators, drowning the streets with their whistles and bells, stormed the Canopy Hotel, with hundreds massed outside to vent their rage over Good’s death on January 7.
Swarms of protesters shattered windows and chanted ‘f**k ICE’ as horrified guests cowered inside in the third night of protests in the Democratic city.
They drummed in defiance and blew on horns, whistles and trumpets before police eventually showed up around 10.30pm local time and arrested 14 people.
The furor was triggered by Good’s death – a mother-of-three who was shot inside her SUV during a confrontation with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Trump’s cabinet say video of the ordeal showed Good purposely accelerating her car into the agent, while the left say she was just driving away. ICE agent Jon Ross fatally shot Good in the head during the heated moment on the snowy street.
The shocking chain of events has divided the country, setting off a string of marches in different cities as fury over Trump’s immigration policies reached boiling point.
‘They need to get the hell out of our city,’ a pink-haired protestor told Daily Mail over the deafening noise during the Friday night protest.
She said she spotted a van full of ICE agents parked up nearby earlier this evening.
Giving her name as Drey, 27, she said: ‘I don’t know for sure they are here but we will do whatever it takes to keep Minneapolis safe.’
Others waved signs decrying ICE as fascists and murderers after marching through the city spraying graffiti and blocking traffic.
‘Get out of Minneapolis. They are only fanning the flames,’ said software developer Erik, 31, declining to give his full name.
‘It sucks for the people inside but these corporations need to get the message. These hotels are hosting ICE and we want them out.’
Signs read ‘Deport Hate, Not People,’ ‘stop killing us’ and ‘America is built on genocide and slavery.’
Susan, 41, who lives in Saint Paul and works at a law firm in downtown Minneapolis said she was ‘sickened’ by Good’s death.
‘It feels to good to yell and scream and let out all of my feelings,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘My neighborhood is very diverse. If you were to remove all the diversity I wouldn’t want to live there. We celebrate difference and diversity here.’
Protestors did not appear to get inside the hotel’s lobby, in part because several people were guarding doors.
One, wearing a gas mask and helmet, said he didn’t want things to get ugly.
‘F**k no, people will get hurt,’ he said, explaining that he was not police or security, just concerned about safety.
A rear door was wrenched open but it appeared to lead to a staff area rather than a public part of the hotel.
Around 10.30pm – several hours into the protest – around 100 State Troopers arrived on scene and formed two columns to march down Park Ave, clearing the area around the Canopy.
Faced with officers wielding batons and weapons to fire rubber bullets and gas, the crowds began retreating, thus far, without violence.
Around 10.45pm, a police officer addressed the crowd on loudspeaker telling them it was an unlawful assembly under Minnesota state law.
A handful of stragglers remained at the intersection of Park and Third St South, banking a drum and screaming ‘shame’ while surrounded on all sides by hundreds of officers and an armored SWAT vehicle.
After several warnings cops moved in to make four arrests.
‘F**k ICE,’ wailed a scruffy detainee as he was hauled into a bus.
‘Call my mom and tell her I love her.’
Until then, the protesters had blared sirens, banged on the windows and flashed lights at the facilities while trying to be as disruptive as possible.
Some of the signs carried read ‘GET THE F*** OUT OF MN’ and ‘MINNESOTA IS NOT AFRAID OF A LIL’ ICE’.
Others added that ‘no one is illegal on stolen land’ and called to ‘abolish’ the federal agency.
The crowd chanted ‘Minnesota knows how to deal with ICE’ while rhythmically banging on their pots and pans.
Dramatic footage captured on Friday night also showed a group of protesters breaking into an venue downtown called The Depot.
The video showed a stirring crowd throwing chairs and tables at the walls and on the floor while others continued to gather around.
At least ten protesters entered the venue without permission. Some laughed and took out their phones to film as they did so.
As individuals filed in, one man was repeatedly heard yelling ‘Get the f*** out!’
The outside of the Depot was spray painted with messages that incessantly read ‘F*** ICE.’
A protester with a megaphone repeated the phrase multiple times, while another pulled out a fresh can of red spray to tag the exterior of the building again.
He spelled out ‘F*** ICE’ while other protesters cheered and whooped the profane graffiti.
Elsewhere in Minneapolis, a crowd of at least 100 hundred protesters marched while making loud noise with pots, pans and whatever they could find.
One protester carried a ping pong paddle in his hand, while others were seen banging on kitchenware.
The crowd, which was large enough to split a road, was largely wearing surgical masks or partially covering their faces.
Protesters brandished anti-ICE signs reading ‘ICE OUT’ or ‘ICE OUT OF MNISOTA [sic]’ as they marched.
On Friday afternoon, new crystal-clear footage was released that showed the moments leading up to the killing of Good, filmed by the ICE agent who shot her.
Good, 37, could be seen smiling at Ross while sitting in her Honda Pilot on Wednesday afternoon and saying, ‘That’s fine dude. I’m not mad at you,’ in a video shot by the officer that was obtained by Minnesota outlet Alpha News.
Her wife, Rebecca Good, 40, could be heard urging the agent to ‘show his face’ as she asks him, ‘You want to come at us?’
‘You want to come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch big boy,’ Rebecca said, with her own cellphone in hand. ‘Go ahead.’
As the tension mounted on the Minneapolis street, Good was told to get out of the car but ignored the order.
She began revving the engine and drove off during what the Trump administration says was part of a protest against the planned detention of Somali migrants in the area.
Rebecca can be heard shouting ‘drive baby, drive’ as Ross’s camera jerked. It is unclear if he was struck by the car or jumped to get out of its way.
Ross fired three shots, including one through the front windshield of the Honda, which struck and killed Good. An agent is heard calling Good a ‘f***ing b***h’ as shots rang out.
Moments later, her car crashed into the back of two vehicles parked nearby.
Source: Dailymail.co.uk | Read the Full Story…
