What’s at stake:
Hundreds gathered Sunday morning at Fresno’s River Park Shopping Center to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the agency’s fatal shootings, including recently Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three.
More than 500 people gathered Sunday morning at Fresno’s River Park Shopping Center to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in response to the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this week.
Protesters crossing the street during the “ICE Out for Good” demonstration. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland
“People need to know that this is seriously not OK,” Mia said, who asked that her last name be withheld out of fear of retaliation. “People are being murdered in broad daylight. We voted this into power, and we need to advocate for change.”
Mia, who was visiting Fresno from Las Vegas, said she is not used to seeing large protests where she lives. While visiting her mother, she heard about the demonstration and decided to attend.
Mia, who is visiting Fresno from Las Vegas, with her sign during the protest. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland
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Protesters lining the streets carried signs with messages such as, “Deport white supremacy,” “Fuck ICE,” “Human rights belong to everyone” and “Resist Fascism.” Many also drew their signs with caricatures of President Donald Trump as a king clutching money stained with blood.
Organizers initially estimated the crowd at around 500 people, but that number grew throughout the morning. They reported a small group of pro-Trump protesters early in the demonstration, who they said did not cause any trouble. Fresnoland did not locate them.
The protest remained peaceful, and unlike past demonstrations in Fresno, no police presence was reported on site.
There has been a growing sense of frustration among protesters in Fresno over the past year. Many chanted, yelled, and played music or clips from news broadcasts, creating a noticeably more vocal and expressive atmosphere compared with previous demonstrations.
This frustration stems from reports last year that immigrants attending permanent residency appointments were being detained at Fresno’s USCIS office. Tensions also rose after video emerged showing masked federal agents arresting two men outside an office in downtown Fresno on Father’s Day.
A protester, who asked to remain anonymous, with their destroyed American flag during the protest. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland
Many of Sunday’s demonstrators traveled from Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and even out of state to join Fresno’s protest, drawn by the city’s reputation as a political “red” area.
While Trump lost Fresno County in 2016 and 2020, local voters supported him in 2024, when he collected 50.89% of the vote.
Advocates say Good’s death represents an escalation in ICE’s use of force, including a separate fatal shooting of an immigrant during a federal operation in Chicago in September and the off-duty killing of a Black man by an ICE agent in Northridge, California on New Year’s Eve. These events follow the 32 people who died in ICE custody in 2025, making it the agency’s deadliest year in over two decades.
Protesters and community organizers have criticized what they see as unchecked violence and abuse by federal immigration authorities amid President Donald Trump’s administrations’ aggressive deportation efforts.
A protester wore a cow costume in homage to the “Operation Inflation” group, known for demonstrating in inflatable animal outfits. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland
“The world as we knew it is rapidly disintegrating,” Naomi said, a frequent attendee of Fresno protests who asked that her full name not be used for fear of retaliation.
The killing of Good marked a turning point for her.
She said Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was doing nothing more than exercising her First Amendment rights, and described the video of the death as both horrific and impossible to ignore.
Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer while in her car on Wednesday morning. Federal officials have described the incident as self-defense, but local officials, witnesses, and human rights groups dispute that characterization based on video and testimony.
“To me, this murder was so obvious,” Naomi said, “I can’t, in good faith, not be here. I can’t live in a world like this.”
Naomi criticized the government’s response to the tragedy, which she described as an effort to double down on false narratives and gaslight communities and for “taking actions without accountability.”
This was the second protest in Fresno this week. On Thursday, demonstrators rallied at ICE’s downtown office, which culminated in an impromptu march through downtown Fresno. Numerous protests against the Trump administration and immigration enforcement took place last year, including the “No Kings,” demonstrations, which also drew large crowds.
A protester carrying an artwork depicting President Donald Trump as a poop. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland
The Sunday demonstration, ICE Out For Good, was organized by Central Valley Indivisible, a local chapter affiliated with the national Indivisible movement.
Patty Cappelluti, lead organizer with Central Valley Indivisible, said the protest was organized because “we can’t just let it pass by.”
“We want to show our emotion,” Cappelluti said. “We are watching what’s happening, the brutality of ICE, and it’s just not OK.”
Cappelluti said she hopes people leave the protest with a strong sense of community because there are others who see what’s happening and agree that the atrocities must be confronted.
Other groups supporting coordinated actions nationwide include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Voto Latino, United We Dream, 50501, and a broad coalition calling for a weekend of protests to “demand accountability, honor the life lost, and make visible the human cost of ICE’s actions.”
Sandra Ruth said she attended the protest because she feels constitutional rights, particularly freedom of speech, are being eroded.
Sandra Ruth attended the protest because she feels constitutional rights are being eroded. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland
“What’s been happening has been heartbreaking,” Ruth said.
She added that while she feels connected to others at the protest, who seem to be following the news and social media closely, those conversations are difficult in her workplace.
Ruth said she wanted to speak out against what she sees as a deeply divisive political climate under the current presidential administration.
Rebecca Castro drove from Coarsegold to attend the protest on behalf of her family, who were unable to be there. Castro said she is a member of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California, a federally recognized tribe, who are used to the injustices of people in power.
Rebecca Castro holding her sign during the demonstration. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland
She described the killing as “a morally wrong violation of everything that’s right,” adding that innocent people are being harmed.
“I don’t want to be silent,” Castro said. “They’re trying to make us afraid.”
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