‘ICE Out for Good’: Local demonstrations protest after fatal Minneapolis traffic stop
Garrett Neese
“ICE Out for Good” rallies held in opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after one of its officers fatally shot a woman during a traffic stop in Minneapolis last week.
More than 100 people in Washington waved signs at passing motorists and shouted the name of Renee Good, the 37-year-old Minneapolis woman killed in Wednesday’s incident. About 30 people also attended a protest in Uniontown Saturday.
Donna Patrina, president of the Washington-Greene Labor Council and a member of the Washington County Democratic Committee, which organized the Washington protest, said Sunday’s rally had only come together the night before. The bundled-up protesters who came out in freezing winds demonstrated the level of outrage about ICE’s conduct, she said.
“It shows you the climate of America right now,” she said. “We know we’re in trouble right now, and we’ve got to get out here … that woman in the car right now could have been any one of us.”
Mary Ellen West of Washington has protested frequently, including at the original Women’s March in Washington, D.C. By protesting at Sunday’s rally, West hoped to be part of a push back against administrative overreach, such as shutting the state of Minneapolis out of the investigation into Good’s death.
“People are being targeted for doing things that are not illegal, and normal law enforcement would not have done this,” she said. “That’s not the way they’re supposed to operate. They’re above the law. They’re beyond the law … every death is a tragedy, but that woman should not have died.”
Tovy Alary came from Upper St. Clair for the protest. She said the mood in the country felt similar to when National Guard members killed four students at Kent State University during a protest against the Vietnam War.
“I think this could be a turning point,” she said. “Kent State was one for the anti-war movement.” Canonsburg native Evan Simonetti now lives in Morgantown. He came out to protest what he sees as an unjustifiable killing and a lack of accountability from administration members who had immediately labeled Good’s actions as “domestic terrorism.”
It’s important to have demonstrations not just in the big cities, but smaller areas like Washington, he said.
“People don’t think it matters … I think it does make a difference. It makes it seem like people who aren’t as confident can come out and they have people who support them and who agree with them,” he said.