Hundreds of protesters gathered Sunday afternoon for an anti-ICE demonstration that ended with a tense encounter between demonstrators and Tennessee State Troopers on Summer Avenue.
The ICE Out for Good protest, organized by Indivisible Memphis, saw demonstrators march from the AutoZone in the Berclair neighborhood to Grahamwood Elementary. Tensions escalated during the march back after one protester was detained by state officials.
Phone video from the scene also shows a patrol vehicle striking a protest marshal who was standing on the street in front of the vehicle.
The demonstration was organized in response to the deadly shooting of Minnesota mother Renee Good by an ICE agent on Wednesday. Protesters demanded accountability from the federal agency while accepting donations for The Immigrant Pantry.
“What happened in Minneapolis was an offense to every decent person in America who believes in due process, justice, the rule of law and the sanctity of life,” said U.S. Representative Steve Cohen, who represents Tennessee’s 9th District.
At the protest, Cohen shared he and fellow Democrats are working on legislation to reform ICE and said he supports abolishing the federal agency.
“They’re not even looking into their backgrounds. They’re telling them if you don’t like your hands being tied by rules and regulations, they won’t be tied at ICE. That’s why we had this lawless behavior in Minneapolis,” Cohen said.
Action News 5 has reached out to Memphis Safe Task Force and Tennessee Highway Patrol for information on the incident with protesters and the detainment. Both agencies have not yet responded.
Steve Cohen sounds like one of the more reasonable and together US Reps I’ve seen comment on these issues. Good for him!
Steve is scared because he is getting opposition from a more progressive candidate, Justin Pearson. I plan on voting for Justin in the midterms: https://www.votejustinj.com/
Walz should order the state troopers to defend the protestors, not oppose them, and fire every single one that doesn’t comply.
US Geography pop quiz: What state is the City “Memphis” in?
Michigan and Texas?
(The issue here is not that I don’t know what state Memphis is in, but that I didn’t pay attention to the city name at all.)
I’ve been there. The goal of the pop quiz is to make you look 😉
Agreed, but this was in Tennessee not Minnesota, so Walz can’t do anything for this particular incident.
“Don’t block the road if you don’t want police to intentionally run you over with their cars?” Or is it “Don’t try to run people over with cars if you don’t want them to murder you?”