Protests against ICE to be held around Southern California on Saturday

Protesters against immigration enforcement are taking to the streets across the nation and in Southern California on Saturday Jan. 10 after a federal officer shot and killed a 37-year-old mother of three in Minneapolis and another agent shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon this week.

The demonstrations come as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security pushes forward in the Twin Cities with what it calls its biggest-ever immigration enforcement operation. President Donald Trump’s administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.

Witnesses said, and videos posted on social media show, that the woman who was killed in Minneapolis, Renee Good, was slowly turning her Honda Pilot SUV away from the officers to leave the scene when one officer fired at her through her windshield.

At least two protests were held in Orange County on Friday night, in Santa Ana and Fullerton, and other protests were held earlier this week in Los Angeles and elsewhere. To see where demonstrations are planned around Southern California this weekend, check the 50501movement website.

Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to get out of his comfort zone and attend a Saturday protest in Durham, North Carolina, because of what he called the “horrifying” killing in Minneapolis.

“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”

Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests are scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states. Many were dubbed “ICE Out for Good” using the acronym for the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Indivisible and its local chapters organized protests in all 50 states last year.

In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups called for a demonstration at Powderhorn Park, a large green space about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot on Wednesday. They said the rally and march would celebrate Good’s life and call for an “end to deadly terror on our streets.”

Protests held in the neighborhood so far have been peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and agents guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.

Minneapolis police said at least 30 people were cited and released during protests Friday night that drew hundreds of people. Police said protesters threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, police vehicles and other vehicles, but no serious injuries were reported.

Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin have said the officer who shot Good was justified in firing his gun.

“Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman,” Vance said. “The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self-defense.”

In addition to observing that videos have indicated otherwise, some law enforcement officials and experts around the nation have stated publicly that an officer should not position himself in front of a moving vehicle or shoot into one.

Also on Saturday, relatives of a man who was fatally shot by an off-duty federal agent in Northridge and civil rights advocates are scheduled to conduct a candlelight vigil in Carson in his memory, as well as to honor Good’s life.

Porter, 43, was fatally shot shortly after 11:30 p.m. Dec. 31 in the 17700 block of Roscoe Boulevard, near White Oak Avenue, by an unidentified agent. The DHS issued a statement saying the agent “bravely responded to an active shooter situation” and “exchanged gunfire with” Porter.

Local activists, however, said Porter was not an active shooter, although he was firing a weapon into the air to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Najee Ali, the director of Project Islamic Hope and one of the vigil’s organizers, said the shootings of Good and Porter “are not isolated incidents.

“They reflect a dangerous pattern of excessive force, poor judgment, and a lack of accountability that is costing innocent people their lives,” Ali said in a statement. “We are coming together to mourn, to demand truth and to call for justice.”

The vigil is set for 5 p.m. in Carson Park.

This is a developing story. Please check back for more.

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