‘A pivotal time’: Minnesota killings set up weekend of protests in Atlanta
In the first four days since the killing on Saturday of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minnesota, the Georgia chapter of the 50501 movement, a liberal activist group, received over 100 new volunteer applications.
“People are really wanting to get involved,” said Noel Nichols, spokesperson for 50501 Georgia. “They want to know what they can do.”
On Sunday, 50501 Georgia will hope to channel that surge of interest into a large-scale mobilization. The group is planning an “ICE out for good” march that will start at 3 p.m. at Selena S. Butler Park in downtown Atlanta.
The march will be one of numerous weekend events scheduled across the Atlanta metro area — along with the state and the nation — to protest immigration enforcement. There is also a pro-ICE rally scheduled Saturday in Woodstock.
The demonstrations are largely a reflection of widespread shock and anger over the violence caused by federal agents in Minnesota, which also claimed the life of Renée Good, a mother of three. She was fatally shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.
“There’s a huge amount of energy,” said Steve Killian, a spokesperson for Indivisible Cobb, a progressive activist group behind an “ICE out everywhere” protest planned for Saturday.
Immigrant-serving nonprofits in Atlanta have been on high alert over heavy-handed immigration enforcement tactics since the start of the second Trump administration. They characterize the events of the past month as a significant escalation.
“This is a moment in history that I think people will be studying in the future. It’s a pivotal time,” said Lily Pabian, executive director of We Love Buford Highway, a nonprofit that provides services to and advocates for local immigrant communities. One of the organization’s current priorities is providing food assistance to families who have lost breadwinners to ICE detention and deportation.
Pabian described the anxiety created by developments out of Minnesota as “another test of resilience.”
In interviews, organizers and advocates said the strong community response to the Good and Pretti killings is driven in part by the abundance of images and videos capturing their encounters with federal agents, as well as by the administration’s inaccurate portrayal of them and the events leading up to the shootings.
For Alberto Feregrino, an immigrant from Mexico and Atlanta-based organizer with immigration advocacy group CASA, the life stories of both Good and Pretti likely helped the moment resonate with a mass public.
“I think that sent shock waves across the country, that it wasn’t two immigrants, right? It was two white citizens of this country that died at the hands of (federal agents) during enforcement operations targeting immigrants,” he said. “I think that’s really jolted the country, to realize that this is not just an immigration or an immigrant community issue. This is everybody’s issue, right? This is all of our rights under attack.”
“This is the time to be out in the streets,” he added.
Killian said the bulk of the people mobilized by the scenes out of Minnesota likely support basic immigration enforcement. What they oppose, he said, are violent tactics leading to injury and loss of life for the exercise of First Amendment rights.
“The vast majority of Americans support safe, border control,” he said. They also “agree on constitutional rights and human rights.
“They don’t agree with shooting people dead because they’re holding a phone — wearing masks to evade responsibility. And Americans don’t agree with lying about what has happened in the face of overwhelming evidence.”
All but one of the planned events over the weekend will bring together people opposed to ICE’s actions and immigration enforcement.
The exception is a “flag rally” billed as both pro-Trump and pro-ICE in Woodstock, organized by Republican activist Brendan Schoepflin.
Schoepflin said he feels saddened by Pretti’s death and that, as a veteran, he values his service as a nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital.
Pretti’s killing “definitely could have been prevented. I definitely think that the agents who unfortunately fired the shots need to be held accountable and investigated. I think it could have been handled better,” he said.
But he added that he felt it was important to create a gathering opportunity for people like him who remain steadfast supporters of ICE and Trump’s campaign to boost deportations.
The agency is “just doing its job of just deporting illegal aliens that are in our country that honestly shouldn’t be here,” Schoepflin said.
According to Pabian, from We Love Buford Highway, this weekend’s gatherings will likely not feature participation by immigrants who are most directly impacted by the Trump administration’s policy of mass deportations — which includes a recent budget provision that made ICE the country’s highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency. That’s because, even prior to the events in Minnesota, many immigrant community members have limited trips outside their homes to avoid confrontations, she said.
“There’s a lot of people that this is impacting that don’t feel they have the right or don’t feel the voice to go out there. They’re scared,” Pabian said. “The anxiety level is very high.”
‘It’s not just about Minnesota’
The gathering spot for Indivisible Cobb’s Saturday rally will be near Home Depot’s corporate headquarters, as well as near one of the retailer’s stores. The Georgia-based company has been associated with ICE raids targeting day laborers, an enforcement tactic that has played out in metro Atlanta and across the country in recent months.
Nichols said 50501 Georgia’s Sunday march will uplift the stories of not just Good and Pretti, but also that of Heber Sanchez Dominguez, a Mexican immigrant who died in ICE custody in Clayton County earlier this month.
Those decisions by protest organizers reflect an urge to get rally-goers mobilized by news out of Minnesota to learn about the ways immigration enforcement is playing out locally.
“It’s not just about Minnesota,” Killian said.
Federal data shows that, in the first nine months of the second Trump administration, ICE made over 8,500 arrests in Georgia, the fourth-highest number nationwide behind only three states with significantly larger foreign-born populations: Texas, Florida and California.
Helping cement Georgia’s role as an immigration enforcement hub is the close collaboration between federal agencies and local law enforcement.
“We might not have seen the boots-on-the-ground effort from the administration in Atlanta as they did in Minneapolis, but Georgia ranks in the top for most ICE detentions,” Feregrino said.
The partnerships with local law enforcement that help funnel people from Georgia jails into ICE custody are “more stealthy,” he added, but they “wreak the same amount of damage and harm to our communities.”
“We could sit there and rally for Minnesota, but let’s also definitely be present in where we’re at, the policies we live under,” Pabian said. “This is a very important opportunity for every Georgian to get educated.”
What remains to be seen is how enduring the protests will be.
“I hope that this really builds a long-lasting movement for Georgia and for the country,” Feregrino said.
During a community vigil Monday in Kirkwood, one of the speakers, Felix Rodriguez, echoed that sentiment.
“What Alex did wasn’t easy. And we thank him for it. I challenge everyone here to not let it end here, not let it end this week, not let it in this month,” he said. “Think about how you’re going to show up just like Alex did for your neighbor. How can you show up in your own way?”
The Minnesota killings and the public anger that ensued have led the Trump administration to gesture at a possible de-escalation in its approach to immigration enforcement. In Georgia, Democratic lawmakers have filed bills that seek to curtail ICE activity in the state — measures that are unlikely to pass the Republican-led state legislature.
Scheduled protests this weekend:
Friday
‘Stand with Minnesota; ICE out!’
3660 Buford Highway NE, Duluth. Rally and march, 5 p.m.
Saturday
405 Chambers St., Woodstock. Rally, 10:30 a.m.
‘Atlanta to Minneapolis: Stop ICE terror’
5255 Peachtree Parkway, Norcross. Rally, 12 p.m.
Historic Fourth Ward Park, Rally and march, 12 p.m.
Cumberland Parkway SE & Paces Ferry Road SE, Vinings. Rally, 1 p.m.
Sunday
Centennial Olympic Park. Rally, 12 p.m.
Historic Fourth Ward Skatepark. Skate, 1 p.m.
Atlanta Liberation Center. Organizing meeting for student activists, 3 p.m.
Selena S. Butler Park. March, 3 p.m.
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