Since the January 7th murder of lesbian Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, the intensity of ICE repression -- by now 3,000 agents have invaded Minneapolis-St. Paul -- has been matched by a huge ramping up of migrant defense, strong protests, and frequent street confrontations. Indeed, the people are rising up.

On last Tuesday's program, we covered the immediate aftermath of Renee Good's murder in detail. Listeners can hear the audio or watch the video at outfm.org. This week, we will bring back two of last week’s Minneapolis guests, both queer organizers and a third who's a New York queer activist (bios at bottom), interviewed by Out-FM's Naomi Brussel and Stahimili Mapp. We can only scratch the surface of the swirling developments in the Twin Cities, but here are a few:
 
* A Minneapolis sociologist who studies violence reports, “We have seen a sharp escalation in the agency’s brutal tactics…ICE agents have tear-gassed schools and local businesses. They have physically assaulted people pumping gas and buying groceries. They have begun door-to-door operations and followed protesters home, demanding to see documentation of citizenship, uploading photos from their encounters into facial recognition databases and detaining thousands of people.” Full article here.

REPRESSION:

Last Wednesday, an ICE agent shot, wounded and detained a Venezuelan migrant who, ICE claimed, was fleeing arrest.
Masked ICE agents illegally broke down the door of a Liberian man and arrested him, but a judge ordered his release.
The U.S. Justice Dept. is investigating Renee Good's widow, Becca Good, for allegedly impeding ICE officers, and is also probing the activist networks that both Renee and Becca were supposedly involved in. Meanwhile, the feds are refusing to investigate ICE agent Jonathan Ross, and Renee’s family has hired an experienced attorney to look into civil relief.
ICE and the right-wing have escalated their racist, misogynist, and homophobic verbal attacks. One woman on ICE Watch was detained by ICE and told, "Have you not learned? This is why we killed that lesbian [b-word]!”

RESISTANCE:

The Intercept reports that the Somali community is mounting a strong resistance against ICE, pooling resources, and trying to protect its more vulnerable members from arrest. In the past two weeks, videos of U.S. citizens of Somali heritage confronting ICE have spread widely online. For more, see "Inside the Somali-Led Resistance to Trump’s Assault on Minneapolis."
On Sunday, pardoned January 6th insurrectionist and far-right influencer Jack Lang and his band of 10 racists were chased away from a Somali neighborhood by a large group of migrant defenders wielding water balloons in the frigid cold, and stopping the planned hate rally dubbed the “March Against Minnesota Fraud.”
Also on Sunday, Minneapolis migrant supporters disrupted a church service where David Easterwood was pastoring while serving as acting field office director for ICE.

Many labor unions, religious groups, and civic organizations have called for a Day of No Work, School, or Shopping – that is, a General Strike -- this Friday, Jan. 23. It's demanding that ICE must leave Minnesota now, Jonathan Ross must be held legally accountable for murdering Renee Gold, and Congress should grant no additional funds for ICE. Support rallies are being organized around the country, including one here at Foley Square in Manhattan on Friday at 4PM.

A little historical background: In 1934 Minneapolis -- at that time a violently anti-union town -- a general strike led by Teamsters shut down most commercial shipping activity for nine days and then resumed for a month. The union won recognition and all their contract demands, transforming the power of Labor in Minneapolis to negotiate. As a result, many new unions formed in the area.

Finally, more has emerged about the role Renee Good was playing at the time of her killing (Ross shot her four times in the face and body through her car window). Truthout reports that Michelle Gross, president of the Minnesota-based Community United Against Police Brutality, who knew Renee, said that she was a volunteer in a network of neighborhood patrols including hundreds of community members organized to track, monitor and record ICE operations.

THIS WEEK'S GUESTS:

Jess Sundin is a longtime community organizer active in the community response to the current massive, militarized ICE deployment in Minnesota. She is a leader of Freedom Road Socialist Organization; organizer with Twin Cities Coalition for Justice; and a grand jury resister, targeted by the FBI for her international solidarity work. She is also a lesbian mom, who lives just blocks from where Renee Good was killed.

Mira Altobell-Resendez is a non-binary Minnesotan fighting for legalization for all and an end to deportations with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee,

We will also talk with Jay W. Walker, NYC organizer with Rise and Resist to talk about what local organizers are doing to fight ICE and how you can get involved. Jay is a co-founder of the Reclaim Pride Coalition, which has organized the annual Queer Liberation March since 2019. He is a founding, active member of the direct action activist organizations Gays Against Guns, Rise and Resist, Resisting Project 2025, Hands Off NYC, and Chelsea Neighbors United. Jay has written for publications including POZ, The Nation, The Advocate, and LGBTQ Community News. A founding member of the activist 'queertet' Sing Out Louise, Jay also co-hosts the weekly podcast, Gurl, Stop.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

JAN. 23: NO WORK, NO SCHOOL, NO SHOPPING:

    Protest: ICE Out for Good, Fri., Jan. 23 @ 4PM, Foley Square, Manhattan. More here.
    Labor Action on Jan. 23 – Statement and demands by Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation

OTHER TYPES OF SOLIDARITY:

There are several ways people nationwide can take action on these issues:

NATIONAL:

Neither Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer nor House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have used their leverage with the appropriations process to cut the ICE budget, so you can let them know your views. For a letter by Detention Watch that can be directly sent to your representatives, click here.
You can also sign a petition from Care2 Team to the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to “investigate this shooting and hold the officers who killed Renee Nicole Good accountable."
For Minnesota actions and to donate in support of migrant support efforts and mutual aid there, visit the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).
From Color Of Change: Sign the petition calling for Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell to name and arrest the ICE agent who killed #KeithPorter, a Black man, on Dec. 31.

LOCAL (NYC/NYS):

New York residents can urge their state representatives to support the New York For All bill, which the Immigrant Defense Project says will end the state’s complicity in ICE’s cruel deportation agenda. 
New Yorkers can also learn of the frequent vigils and protests of ICE by Rise and Resist.
The New York Immigration Coalition and Hands Off NYC train people to support and defend migrants and organize public actions.

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