Thousands rally in Minneapolis as immigration anger boils

Thousands of protesters rallied in Minneapolis on Friday in the latest show of anger over US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, as a prominent journalist was charged over his coverage of protests in the northern city.

Crowds marched with signs blasting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency leading Trump’s mass deportation drive, in response to a call for a “national shutdown” across the United States.

Minneapolis has become the epicenter of the immigration policy backlash after two protesters, both US citizens, were shot dead by federal agents this month.

“I don’t think our federal government should be terrorizing our people like this,” Sushma Santhana, 24, told AFP as demonstrators chanted “our streets!” around her.

The crowd gathered in freezing temperatures after Bruce Springsteen performed at an anti-ICE concert in the city. The US rock legend recently released “Streets of Minneapolis,” a tribute to the pair who were gunned down in separate incidents.

Another protester, 24-year-old Max Maffor, said he was demonstrating “to conserve what we would consider our democracy and all the liberties that we get from living in America.”

Demonstrators also held rallies in New York and across Los Angeles, where immigration raids last year sparked protests, with thousands carrying signs outside City Hall.

In Washington, the federal government entered a partial shutdown at midnight Friday following Democratic anger over the violent immigration crackdown, which derailed talks over new funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

– Journalist charged –

Earlier Friday, the Trump administration charged former CNN anchor Don Lemon and eight others with civil rights violations, after Lemon and other reporters covered a protest at a church where an ICE official is a pastor.

The journalist’s lawyer said he was taken into custody in Los Angeles overnight, adding that his work covering the protest “was no different to what he has always done.”

Lemon faces two charges of conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering with First Amendment rights, a DHS spokesperson told AFP, referencing the constitutional protection for freedom of expression, including religion.

Political figures and media advocates condemned Lemon’s arrest, with Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling for his immediate release.

“This is an egregious attack on the First Amendment and on journalists’ ability to do their work,” the Committee to Protect Journalists’ chief Jodie Ginsberg said.

Lemon was released from custody after a short court hearing in Los Angeles, US media reported. His next hearing is in Minneapolis on February 9.

“I will not stop now,” he said after his release.

“In fact, there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”

– Civil rights probe –

Trump meanwhile walked back his conciliatory tone to describe Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse killed last week, as an “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist” after new footage allegedly showed him in a scuffle with federal agents.

AFP could not immediately verify the video, in which a man said to be Pretti is seen kicking and breaking the taillight of the agents’ car before they emerge and tackle him to the ground.

Some Minneapolis residents were unstirred by the footage.

“So the guy kicked a car’s light, does that mean he deserved to die?” Pedro Wolcott, a Latino sandwich shop owner, told AFP.

The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Pretti’s death, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Friday.

There is no similar probe for Renee Good, who was shot dead by agents on January 7.

– Mass deportation to continue –

Trump had claimed he wanted to “de-escalate a little bit” in the fallout of the deaths and appointed a new point man in Minneapolis, top immigration adviser Tom Homan.

Homan said that “certain improvements could and should be made,” a marked difference in tone from his predecessor on the ground, combative Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino.

Homan also said his staff was “working on a drawdown plan” for some of the more than 3,000 federal agents, if there was greater cooperation from the local authorities in the Democratic-run city.

He told Fox News on Friday that Trump was still “going to have a mass deportation.”

The administration was in Minneapolis “to save lives — to save lives of officers, to save lives of the community and do smart law enforcement operations”, he said.