Unions in Minnesota are making their voice heard in the wake of ICE raids that have left one American dead in the state.
“Faith leaders, union representatives and community members are calling for a Day of Truth and Freedom on Friday, Jan. 23 — urging all Minnesotans not to go to work, school or go shopping in response to Operation Metro Surge.
Organizers held a news conference Tuesday morning outside of the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis to announce the statewide day of mourning and action. It comes amid ongoing tensions over the federal law enforcement surge in Minnesota that escalated after ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Good last week.
Auxiliary Minister JaNaé Bates Imari of St. Paul’s Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church led the conference, calling for Minnesotans to ‘leverage our economic power, our labor, our prayer for one another.’
‘What we have seen and what we have witnessed, what we have all gone through is not normal,’ Bates Imari said. ‘[Renee Good was] standing up for her neighbor. Her whistle blowing was returned by bullets. We will not, we cannot let that stand. Minnesota will not continue to be a testing ground for the kind of fear and violence that is expected for the rest of this country.’
Organizers say several unions are also on board, including the St. Paul Federation of Educators, Unite Here Local 17, SEIU Local 26 and transit union ATU.”
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