For the fourth day in a row, large numbers of St. Louis area residents showed up Sunday to protest an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman last week. At least 800 people converged Sunday afternoon on Shaw Park for a spirited rally and march through the streets of Clayton.
After the march, former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-St. Louis), delivered a fiery speech dedicated to the theme of resistance.
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Bush called on her listeners to stand up to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which has been accused of using heavy-handed, even brutal tactics in cracking down on immigrant communities since Donald Trump returned to the presidency nearly a year ago.
Bush said that the shooting of an innocent victim, such as Renee Nicole Good, “most likely will happen again. It’s the people who will resist. It’s the people who will stop it. It’s you who will cause this to end.”
Good, 37, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis on Jan. 7 while seemingly attempting to drive her SUV away from him.
Federal officials, including Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance, have defended the shooting, claiming the agent acted in self-defense and that Good had tried to run him over.
But that account has been contradicted by eyewitnesses, videos from the scene, and Jacob Frey, the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis. So far the FBI has taken sole responsibility for probing the shooting, shutting out state and local law enforcement, according to media reports.
Protests have taken place across the U.S., including in the Grove on Thursday and Brentwood on Friday, with an estimated 400 people lining the corner of Brentwood and Eager roads. On Saturday, about 250 people showed up to a protest at Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters.
On Sunday, Hollie Regalo, of Kirkwood, showed up to Shaw Park with a sign that proclaimed, “ABOLISH ICE/GIVE US HEALTHCARE.”
Regalo said she was motivated to attend the rally “to show support to Minneapolis and to everyone who is being currently tortured by ICE and this regime.”
Regalo said she was impressed by the crowd’s “good energy,” saying, “It’s really great to see so many people out here, especially in Clayton, where you would not expect so many people to come out for a march such as this.”
Julie Mager, of St. Louis, also displayed a sign calling for the abolition of ICE, as well urging bypassers to “Save Democracy/Stand Up/Fight Back.”
Mager said that America, under Trump, is becoming a fascist state. “This is the first time a lot of people are paying attention,” she said of Good’s fatal shooting. “It’s getting worse and worse.”
But Mager said she harbors hope that American democracy will survive. “It’s going to be a slog, I think,” she said. “But I believe as long as we keep talking to each other and keep trying to encourage people to come out each time, then we can take this on.”
