Up to 300 people gathered in downtown Buffalo late Thursday afternoon, standing and chanting outside the building where the local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office is housed.
The protest was organized one day after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman at close range while she attempted to drive away in Minneapolis.
The rally started around 4:30 with about 50 people standing outside 250 Delaware. Within 30 minutes, the number grew to at least 250, possibly up to 300 people.
“We want ICE out of Buffalo,” said a woman who identified herself as Melanie, with Our City Action Buffalo. “We want it done today. We want it done yesterday. ICE needs to get out of our city.”
Thursday’s protest was larger than one hastily assembled the night before, in response to the deadly shooting of Renee Good. Video which has gone viral shows her SUV moving forward as ICE agents were trying to access her vehicle. One of the agents shoots inside the vehicle. That vehicle is later seen careening away before crashing into a parked car.
The Trump Administration insists the agent was acting in self-defense, accusing Good of attempting to run an agent down. But protesters in Buffalo including Scott Ashley say the video shows otherwise.
“I saw a lady murdered in cold blood, which is a senseless act,” said Ashley, who was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and holding up a sign referencing Proverbs 8 from the Old Testament. “Donald Trump and ICE are not all powerful, like they think they are. They are prideful, they are arrogant, and they practice the evil way. We're here to love, not to hate.”
Many of the diverse signs held by those in attendance offered more blunt messages, such as “(Expletive) ICE.” The chants throughout the 90-minute protest were just as diverse as the signs, most of which urged ICE’s removal from Buffalo. Others were in support of immigrants. One chant recognized Renee Good by name.
Another chant called for the impeachment of Kristi Noem, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Noem is among several members of the Trump Administration who have tried to portray Good as a radical who was, by their estimation, committing an act of domestic terror. Again, the protesters see it differently.
“Renee Good was a regular, average U.S. citizen,” said Melanie. “I believe she was a legal observer - that training happens for normal citizens all the time. What ICE is doing is illegal. And the way that the federal government has skewed it… it is violent, it is wrong, and it's just a blatant, outright lie.”
