Just days before a second U.S. citizen was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, protests around the country opposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions and the Trump administration on Tuesday, Jan. 20, a year since Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States.
North Clark County Indivisible, a fresh chapter of the national movement, organized a highly visible protest for an hour at the intersection of Main Street and state Route 503 in Battle Ground. The peaceful demonstration rallied around all four corners of the intersection with many signs opposing ICE and Donald Trump, as well as implications of acquiring Greenland and the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by a federal agent. Just days later on Saturday, Jan. 24, federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Both incidents in Minneapolis remain under investigation.
“From my own perspective as well as what I saw a lot of in the crowd, there’s a concern about the use of ICE recently and the aggressive, unlawful tactics that they're deploying, especially in Minnesota right now,” said Gary Obermeyer, media contact for North Clark County Indivisible. “But I understand they’re also targeting Maine, and it’s pretty clear it’s not about the worst of the worst, it’s about getting rid of non-white people, period.”
While ICE operations in Clark County have been minimal in scale in comparison with other areas of the country, Obermeyer shared his concerns about local immigration enforcement, as well.
“I know they’ve been targeting people based on the color of their skin, obviously the kind of jobs they have, the kind of language they speak, the kind of accents they have,” he said. “Even if you’re not a white American, if you’re not a white citizen, you’re in Jeopardy.”
Obermeyer said the reasonings by ICE agents for stopping individuals in Southwest Washington are wrongful probable cause and mainly have not been the promise of the Trump campaign ahead of the election.
“The promise back in the campaign was ‘the worst of the worse,’” Obermeyer said. “That’s not been the case at all. And, in fact, a woman was recently killed in Minnesota, as you know, so, everybody is in danger.”
As for setting an example for a peaceful demonstration, Obermeyer said it has been crucial for North Clark County Indivisible leaders to remind participants to keep it peaceful, be joyful and to be optimistic about the efforts of demonstrating while making a difference. He added that the group expects to continue to grow and host more demonstrations in the near future.
Since the demonstration on Jan. 20 occurred in Battle Ground, an area of Clark County dominantly supportive of right-wing politics, opposition to a left-minded protest has been a concern for organizers.
“If you pay attention to the history of this community, there is reason to be concerned,” Obermeyer said. “There is evidence that there is some backlash, but so far, fortunately, that has been underground. But yeah, it’s a concern when people go stand on that corner at 502 and 503. There is concern that it would only take one bad guy to cause a lot of havoc. We don’t want that to happen. That’s why we’re working closely to build a good relationship with the police department. We appreciate them being there when the rallies happen.”
