MANKATO — As reports circulated of federal agents ramping up detentions in southern Minnesota, hundreds of protesters gathered along Highway 169 in St. Peter Saturday to demonstrate their opposition.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now conducting in Minnesota what the Trump administration describes as the largest immigration enforcement effort in American history.
But the signs, the chants and the comments of area residents in St. Peter denounced the Department of Homeland Security and the president while honoring Renee Good, the Minneapolis woman killed by an ICE agent Wednesday.
“Immoral Chaotic Evil,” stated one sign’s reinterpretation of what ICE now stands for.
“Hey ICE. Skip the long Minnesota goodbye. Go now,” read another.
“Go home Noem,” was directed at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who on Wednesday immediately exonerated the ICE officer who shot Good and called the 37-year-old mother a “domestic terrorist.”
A protester’s sign offered a different conclusion: “It was murder.”
A rough count by The Free Press had more than 700 people demonstrating in St. Peter midway through the hour-long rally. Despite temperatures in the 20s, most seemed buoyed by the large turnout and the broadly supportive reaction from passing vehicles.
Cheri Guentzel of St. Peter, an active member of the Indivisible St. Peter/Greater Mankato group that sponsored the protest, said the actions of ICE are unacceptable. She hopes the demonstrators are sending a message to a broader community that believes the same but is reluctant to make waves.
“I hope that they realize there are other people out there who think exactly like they do and that we are a peacefully-protesting crowd, but we want change,” Guentzel said.
“And next time, come out and join us,” added fellow protester Lori Krueger of Mankato.
Katie Wayne of Mankato decided she couldn’t wait for the next one.
“It felt like it was time not to remain silent anymore,” Wayne said, holding a sign reading: “My First Protest. No More Being Quiet.”
She was out with her husband Nick and their three kids. Their decision to act was meant to be a statement to their children and to their fellow Americans.
“It’s time our kids see what you need to do to stand up against this,” Katie Wayne said.
“It’s time for a humane treatment of our fellow humans,” Nick Wayne added. “Too many people are cheering on inhumane treatment, and it needs to stop.”
Like many at the protest, the actions of ICE agents in Minnesota are just the latest of a multitude of actions by the Trump administration that they oppose.
“The divisiveness that he’s caused, we’ve just had enough,” Katie Wayne said.The crowd in Minnesota Square park and overflowing into the blocks to the north and south skewed middle-aged and older. Jessie Proell and Olivia Norquist, both 23, were among the exceptions.
Neither carried signs, but they wanted to be part of the cause.
“Especially in times like this, we need to be together,” Proell said.
“I find hope in local involvement, just getting connected with local politics and doing what I can here,” Norquist said.
Joining a protest movement, even a vibrant one like Saturday’s, brings no guarantee of changing the world. But refusing to stand up guarantees a person will not, according to Proell.
“My favorite quote at the moment is ‘Nothing changes if nothing changes,’” she said.
“At least we’re doing something. We could just all ignore it, but the fact that we’re out here proves we want something better.”
Proell, Norquist and the rest of the demonstrators in St. Peter were far from alone in seeking change. More than 1,000 ICE protests were planned across the nation over the weekend.
In Minnesota, at least 17 were slated for Saturday with six more on Sunday. People were gathering in massive numbers Saturday in numerous Twin Cities locations, in college towns like St. Cloud and Northfield and in smaller communities ranging from Grand Marais and Chisholm in the north to Wabasha and Austin in the south.