Wisconsinites on Friday took to the streets to protest a fatal shooting in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Widely distributed videos from Wednesday show an ICE agent draw his gun and shoot 37-year-old Renee Macklin Good in her SUV.
President Donald Trump and members of his administration said the ICE agent was acting in self defense. Minnesota leaders like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are accusing Trump and federal officials of lying about the shooting.
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But the incident has sparked thousands of people to protest across the U.S., including in Wisconsin.
In Madison, hundreds of people stood on the steps outside the state Capitol just after sunset for a rally led by the immigrant-rights group Voces de la Frontera.
Protestors sang songs as they waved signs and held candles. Among them was Jonathan Beers of Madison.
“(I’m) tired of being told which neighbors to be afraid of,” Beers said.
Another Madison resident, Deborah Elsas, wore a black baseball cap over her shoulder-length white hair. It read “Abolish ICE.” She called this a “very scary time.”
What happened to Good was “cold-blooded murder,” said Janine Shefte, a Menominee Falls resident, who travels to Madison to visit her son and attend protests.
Shefte said ICE needs to stay out of Wisconsin.
“Keep your nose in your federal stuff,” Shefte said. “You leave immigrants alone. I am Indigenous, so everybody’s a colonizer. I don’t understand how they hate people who belong here.”
Friday’s demonstrations, including events in Madison, Milwaukee, La Crosse and Appleton, were not the first this week. Protesters Wednesday night gathered in Green Bay and Milwaukee outside of a local ICE headquarters. A candlelight vigil was held Thursday night in downtown Oshkosh.
Milwaukee marcher: ‘I think it is a turning point’
In Milwaukee, hundreds marched throughout downtown for more than an hour on Friday night. Protesters chanted “Justice for Renee Good” and some held signs that said “ICE out of our communities” and “Stop ICE Now.”
Katharine Reid of Wauwatosa said she was “devastated” when she heard the news of the shooting.
“(I) haven’t been the same since, and no one that I know is unaffected,” Reid said.
Reid said it was encouraging to see how many people showed up to the demonstration to speak out against the shooting.
“I think it is a turning point, and it is galvanizing people to recognize that they have to take more action,” Reid said.
Cudahy resident Teri Knight also came to the protest with her friend.
“I guess I don’t understand how people can’t be out here,” Knight said while she was walking down Wisconsin Ave. “It’s the only way to make any change, aside from calling people.”
Ben Dombrowski, an organizer with the No Kings Milwaukee Area Coalition, spoke to hundreds of people who gathered at Cathedral Square Park before a short moment of silence was held for Good. He called for the Milwaukee community to “hold the line.”
“So if ICE considers putting armed men in our streets, they will quickly find that these streets are our streets,” Dombrowski said. “Milwaukee belongs to the people.”
La Crosse veteran: ‘(I) never dreamt that we would see this in this country’
In downtown La Crosse, about 50 people gathered to demonstrate at noon Friday. Those protestors held signs along a busy intersection outside of City Hall. Some members of the group said they have been gathering every Friday for months to protest against the Trump administration.
Ted Yankee from West Salem said his reaction to Good’s death was “horror.”
“(I) never dreamt that we would see this in this country,” he said.
Yankee, a Coast Guard veteran, carried an upside down American flag, saying he hoped to communicate that the country “is in distress.” He said he does not understand the push to remove immigrants from the country.
“Immigrants are what make up this country, and we need immigrants,” Yankee said. “So much of what they provide is good for the country; it’s not bad.”
La Crosse-area resident Margaret Larson said she has also been frustrated by the Trump administration’s treatment of immigrants, refugees and migrants.
But she said Good’s death felt different from the last 11 months.
“After this happened, I started thinking, ‘It’s open season on all of us,’” said Larson, who carried a sign reading, “We are Renee.”
Larson said she hopes this is “a tipping point” that stirs more people to speak out against the administration.
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