Several hundred community members gathered at Nymore Park in Bemidji, Minnesota, on January 25, 2024, to protest against the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in the Twin Cities. Despite temperatures hovering around -7 degrees Celsius, with a windchill of -15, participants formed letters to convey their message to an overhead drone, spelling out phrases such as “ICE out of MN,” “Bemidji says ‘No’ to ICE,” and “Love people, not ICE.”
The event was organized by a small group of local residents concerned about the recent increase in tensions related to federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota. They were able to coordinate the demonstration after connecting with a drone pilot who assisted in capturing the formations from above. One of the organizers, who wished to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, expressed the importance of the gathering, stating, “It’s just really devastating and horrifying to see this kind of thing happening in our communities throughout this state.”
As they stood in formation, attendees chanted not only the slogans but also the names of two individuals, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were recently killed by federal agents in Minneapolis. The organizer expressed gratitude for the large turnout, emphasizing that “this is a huge number of people for a small town” and highlighting the courage shown by those braving the extreme cold.
Protesters carried signs with messages like “Be the salt, love melts ICE” and “No one is illegal on stolen land.” One attendee, who preferred to remain unnamed for safety reasons, articulated her motivation for participating in the demonstration. “I came out to be a body amongst many, to show that this uptick in fascism that’s happening in our state is not acceptable to the people anymore,” she said.
The attendee, a Minneapolis native, described her dual concerns for her current community and her hometown. “You have this place that you call home now and you fear for what could be coming next,” she noted, emotional as she spoke about the impact of these actions on friends and family still living in the Twin Cities. “This is creating trauma for a whole new generation of not just Minnesotans, but Americans as a whole.”
The organizers of the event were encouraged by the swift turnout, with the protest primarily spread through word of mouth. One organizer stated, “Our civil rights and our human rights are being violated on the regular, and all of us deserve those, no matter our status, or our color, or our age or our race.”
This hour-long demonstration underscored the community’s commitment to standing against federal immigration policies that they perceive as oppressive. The turnout on such a cold day demonstrated the importance of the issue to the participants, who left with a renewed sense of solidarity and purpose in their advocacy against ICE’s actions in the region.
