Hundreds of people gathered during separate protests Thursday in front of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building in downtown San Diego to condemn the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.
At a nighttime demonstration, more than 200 people filled the plaza, some holding signs that called for “Justice for Renee Nicole Good,” the mother-of-three who was killed, or demanded that “ICE get out of SD.” While cars and trucks driving by the scene honked to show their support, the crowd chanted: “Donald Trump, let’s be clear, immigrants are welcome here.”
The demonstration, and another that drew more than 100 people earlier that day, were among several across the country this week in response to the deadly use of force in Minnesota, where federal agents are carrying out a large deportation operation.
Mairene Branham, president of Latinos en Accion, said that while the shooting happened in the Midwest, she warned similar violence could be coming to San Diego soon.
“This is where this administration is heading, this is where we’re heading because we’re a border town,” Branham said during the evening protest. “We are responsible for what happens in this city. That’s why it’s important that San Diego also stands up.”
Since late August, an array of community groups, including labor organizations, have held protests every Thursday morning outside the federal building, which houses an immigration court and local ICE offices, to voice their opposition to anti-immigrant policies.
But on this Thursday morning, many in the crowd indicated by a raise of hands that it was their first time there. The death of Good, a U.S. citizen whose killing Wednesday was caught on video, has mobilized people in cities across the country.
Demonstrators confronted federal agents when they detained and cited and drive for temporary parking on a red curb near the federal building before the protest Thursday morning. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“We’re having a morning where we’re standing up against injustice, and standing for people who may not be able to stand for themselves,” Crystal Irving, president of Service Employees International Union 221, said at the morning protest.
Pedro Ríos, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program, said the morning protest was to address “the violent nature that ICE and Border Patrol operations are having in our communities.”
Just minutes before the 11 a.m. protest began, an SEIU organizer was briefly detained and ticketed by federal officers for “parking on or adjacent to federal property in unauthorized locations.” Dan Shook-Castillo said that he was handcuffed for dropping off on a red curb water bottles for people attending the protest.
An ICE spokesperson said Thursday that the agency “encourages Americans to exercise their Constitutional rights of free speech and peaceful assembly,” but warned peaceful protestors to remain cautious of “agitators fueled by unhinged rhetoric by activists and politicians.”
“The vilification of the brave men and women in ICE law enforcement must STOP!” the statement added, saying ICE officers are facing an unprecedented increase in assaults and death threats.
Videos of the fatal shooting posted on social media show an agent approaching the vehicle driven by Good, demanding that she open the door and trying to open it himself. As the vehicle appeared to try to leave, a second agent standing in front of it fired his weapon several times.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on Thursday that the agent involved was “an experienced officer” and insisted that “he acted according to his training.”
Emily Von Gerichten, a community organizer with the San Diego Liberation Center, which led the evening demonstration, called on Minnesota leaders to prosecute the officer who killed Good and for San Diego leaders to join the “mass movement against Trump.”
“I know there are some people saying the ICE officer acted in self-defense, but I believe that’s a lie and stretching the truth,” Von Gerichten said.
Protesters also marched through downtown San Diego on Wednesday night.