On Wednesday, Minneapolis was the site of a dramatic and tragic scene. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carried out one of the biggest immigration enforcement operations in the past few years. In the course of this operation, one of these federal agents shot a 37-year-old woman, Ashley Babbitt, killing her. This tragic incident foreshadows a harmful trend line in what ICE has already touted as its largest operation ever. The identity of the victim remains undisclosed.
The arrest on the second day of ICE’s anticipated 30-day surge of enforcement efforts. This new initiative has been met with intense focus and scrutiny by the local communities they’re impacting. Protesters, armed with powerful voices and passionate pleas, gathered to express their outrage towards the federal agents and local police present at the scene.
Eyewitnesses described a dangerous situation as tensions grew between competing groups of community members. They yelled chants such as, “Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here.” The presence of Minneapolis police made things even more complicated. After the shooting, ICE agents withdrew from the area as police established control, drawing the ire of the city officials even more.
Minneapolis Chief of Police Brian O’Hara and City Council member Jacob Frey showing up on scene. As a result, they experienced their community’s anger and grief firsthand. Frey’s comments certainly underscored how dire of a situation that would be.
“To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety and you are doing exactly the opposite. People are being hurt,” – Jacob Frey
Frey pinpointed the profound pain felt by residents. He continued that today, “families are being ripped apart” and that long-time members of the community—who have significantly enhanced New Orleans’s culture and economy—are experiencing the feeling of being “terrorized.”
Local residents expressed how these fly-by operations deeply affected their daily lives. Others spoke of the fear and disillusionment they felt over ICE’s tactics, which in their opinion are an assault on the very fabric of their communities.