Dozens of San Francisco businesses closed their doors Friday as the Bay Area joined a national general strike protesting federal immigration enforcement that killed two U.S. citizens this month in Minneapolis.
Protesters gathered at 1 p.m. at Dolores Park for what organizers expect to be the region’s largest demonstration, propelled by student walkouts from high schools and college campuses across the Bay Area. The strike, called for by University of Minnesota student groups under the banner “No work, no school, no shopping,” follows a Minneapolis protest last week that drew an estimated 50,000 in subzero temperatures.
In addition to Dolores Park, gatherings are planned at UC Berkeley’s West Crescent Lawn and Santa Clara University’s Bronco statue at noon, and at Oakland’s Fruitvale BART station at 2 p.m. College of San Mateo students will be marching to Central Park in San Mateo, and a solidarity event is set outside Alameda City Hall.
Friday’s closures involved a variety of businesses (opens in new tab). The Roxie Theater refunded tickets for what was to be a busy weekend. Touchstone Climbing shut all 17 locations.
Local internet service provider Monkeybrains gave its staff of 70 the day off. Remi Moehring, Touchstone’s assistant director of operations, said the company hopes customers “put the business closures — not just ours, but everyone’s — into perspective and see the bigger picture.”
Reid Marple, 30, is a sous chef at Hilda and Jesse, a North Beach restaurant that closed for the day. Marple said he could’ve done anything with his time off but chose to join the demonstration at Dolores Park to “witness this moment.”
“It feels good to be involved in something instead of just watching it,” he said.
Marple said he isn’t surprised about the escalating unrest in Minnesota as he’s been monitoring ICE since the start of Trump’s second term.
“Shit has been happening the whole time,” he said. “And it’s only been a year, and there’s three more left — at least.”
Theresa Appleton, 47, took the day off from running her nonprofit to protest.
“I hope that this is the end of all this craziness,” Appleton said of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis. “People in our country shouldn’t be murdered in the streets. He had a right to carry that gun.”
The strike comes six days after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse. Pretti was filming officers with his phone when agents pepper-sprayed him and wrestled him to the ground; video shows that one agent removed a gun from his waist before another opened fire. Pretti’s death followed the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old who was in her car when she was shot by an ICE agent. Both were U.S. citizens.
Katherine Douglas, owner of the Noe Valley running shop Running Wylder, said the events in Minneapolis made it clear that closing her store Friday was the right move.
“Everything that’s going on in the country right now is pretty terrible,” Douglas said. “I think our spending power is the most powerful tool that we have. So by not utilizing it, hopefully we send a message.”
Bay Area elected officials said they have not seen any indication that there will be a federal immigration crackdown ahead of next week’s Super Bowl in Santa Clara. On Thursday, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie told the Chronicle (opens in new tab) that recent conversations with NFL officials and federal agencies indicated no surge of agents; Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen added that he would expect to be notified ahead of any imminent ICE operations.
Douglas said she hopes the strike prompts people to be more intentional about where they spend money.
“I just hope that it helps people be more aware of where their dollars are going,” she said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.