In solidarity with the demonstrations in Minneapolis in condemnation of the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, thousands of Angelenos gathered downtown to call for an end to the raids and to demand justice for victims.
The Los Angeles march was organized by clergymen and other faith-based community members, alongside other groups including Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 721 and LA Voice.
Friday’s demonstration was one of many held nationwide after the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent on Jan. 7 and Keith Porter Jr. on New Year’s Eve by an off-duty agent.
Pastor Eddie Anderson speaks to protesters in front of LA City Hall about resisting ICE. (Photo by Solomon Smith)
Pastor Eddie Anderson, who helped to organize the protest in LA, said he wants to remind people that this is not only a battle against the federal government “that kidnapped our neighbors,” but also a spiritual one.
“Part of the goal was to show that … we will not be divided or be relegated by our despair,” Anderson said, “but that when we are working together, we’re working in unity, that we have a deeper power inside of us … that can overcome anything that the government, ICE or [President] Donald Trump tries to put in our community.”
The goal with today’s action was to display a show of force and unity, as well as resilience and resistance, not only in LA, but nationwide. They want to send the message that if ICE starts taking people from one community, that people in other cities won’t stay silent.
A clergyman raise his fist and chants “ICE out of LA” as he passes the Roybal Federal Building, Friday Jan. 23, in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Solomon O. Smith)
“We need everyone to get in the fight,” Anderson said. “Use your dollars, boycott Target and Home Depot, use your voice and check on your neighbors or march in the street. But we need everyone in this fight. That’s the only way we can overwhelm the government and remind them this is a democracy, this is still America and we’re not going anywhere.”
Solomon Smith contributed to this report.
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