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he only planned protest so far is San Diego County is one located at 40th Street and Orange in City Heights at 2pm
In response to recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity, as well as the deaths of four people shot by federal agents, activists are encouraging a “shutdown” on Friday.
The “National Shutdown” calls for supporters to stay home from work and school, and not to go shopping in an effort to “stop funding ICE.”
“The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country — to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN. On Friday, January 30, join a nationwide day of no school, no work and no shopping,” organizers wrote online.
Last Friday, businesses across Minnesota shuttered in protest of ICE being in the Minneapolis area. A day later, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, was fatally shot by federal agents.
Organizers of Friday’s National Shutdown also pointed to the shooting deaths of Renee Good, Silverio Villegas González, and Keith Porter Jr., saying “they were gunned down in broad daylight simply for exercising their First Amendment right to protest mass deportation.”
“It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!”
Several University of Minnesota-based organizations, including the Somali Student Association, the Ethiopian Student Association, the Black Student Union, the Liberian Student Association, and the Graduate Labor Union, have endorsed Friday’s National Shutdown.
The political organization 50501 (50 States, 50 Protests, 1 Day), which has been at the center of several national protests since President Trump took office, is also endorsing the event. (50501, too, is supporting “ICE Out of Everywhere” events, hosted by Action Network, which are scheduled for Saturday.)
The website for Friday’s National Shutdown lists hundreds of other supporting organizations across the U.S.
Actors Pedro Pascal and Hannah Einbinder, as well as rapper Macklemore are among those who have promoted the general strike in separate Instagram posts.
“No system built on violence has ever been undone by reform,” the latter wrote. “It ends when people stop sustaining it. This is that moment.”
As they were during Minnesota’s statewide strike, businesses are being encouraged to close on Friday in solidarity. Several establishments in Denver are doing just that, Nexstar’s KDVR reported Thursday.
“It has been increasingly difficult to watch what is unfolding in our country,” a representative for award-winning Denver restaurant S?p S?a said in a post announcing its one-day closure. “We have felt so helpless and alone and it’s abundantly clear that no one will come to save us, so it is our civic duty to unite as a community in support of the most vulnerable.”
New ‘No Kings’ protests scheduled
Earlier this week, organizers announced a third round of “No Kings” protests coming this spring, to oppose what they describe as authoritarianism under Trump.
Previous rallies have drawn millions of people, and organizers said they expect even greater numbers on March 28 in the wake of Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
“We expect this to be the largest protest in American history,” Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the nonprofit Indivisible, told The Associated Press ahead of Wednesday’s announcement. He predicted that as many as 9 million people will turn out.
“No Kings” protests, which are organized by a constellation of groups around the country, have been a focal point for outrage over Trump’s attempts to consolidate and expand his power.
ICE operations winding down in Minnesota, Maine
Meanwhile, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said Thursday that the administration is open to a drawdown of agents in Minneapolis but only after he sees cooperation from state officials.
And in Maine, Sen. Susan Collins said that immigration officials have ceased their “enhanced operations” in the state after more than 100 arrests in an enforcement surge. She made the announcement after saying she had several direct communications with Noem.
“There are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations here,” Collins said in a statement. “I have been urging Secretary Noem and others in the Administration to get ICE to reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement in the state.”
News source: The Hill
At least 100 students from Hoover High were out in force – and not in school along El Cajon Boulevard with signs and flags. Drivers slowed, honked, waved and gave thumbs up. Two School District police officers gave them safe clearance by narrowing ECB westbound to one lane. Kudos to all.