Merced community gathers to voice opposition to ICE, support for Minnesota
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Over 150 Merced residents, students and retirees gathered to protest ICE actions.
- Protesters linked local action to national incidents and global injustices.
- Protest included diverse participants, signage and no major clashes reported.
More than 150 people gathered in Merced’s Courthouse Park for a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday afternoon.
Merced College students, retired educators, and families were among the crowd that lined both sides of M street between 21st and 22nd street at the height of the protest.
The protest was organized by Indivisible Merced, a local activist group.
“Today we are supporting Minnesota who had to endure being terrorized by ICE, the Gestapo police of the Trump regime that murdered at least two protesters/observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. We demonstrate against ICE and their lawless treatment of American citizens and immigrants alike,” said Heike Hambley, a representative of Indivisible Merced in a text message.
“Being together as a community of like-minded citizens will help against the fear many of us are feeling,” Hambley added.
The protest followed several others this week, including student-led walkouts at three Merced high schools and an emergency protest in Courthouse park last Sunday.
The emergency protest was organized in just 24 hours after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, in Minneapolis.
“I’m out here today because the only reason I’m here in the United States is because my parents made the sacrifice to come here,” Alejandra Hurtado said. “... they are scared of everything going on, not just for us, but for themselves and for (those) around us. It’s not safe.”
Levonne Phillips, 76, of Merced sat on the sidewalk during the protest.
“No one is safe,” she called out to cars as they passed.
The crowd continued to grow until close to 4 p.m. as protestors showed up with drums, a wagon full of snacks and water, and more signs. A lone bagpiper showed up and played “Amazing Grace.”
“We’re here in solidarity with everyone, not just people who are experiencing injustices from ICE, but also people experiencing injustices from all U.S. infrastructures and systems of oppression, especially … in Palestine and Sudan and Congo,” said UC Merced graduate student Melissa Quintana.
Drivers honked their horns and raised fists in solidarity with the protest as they passed. There were no-counter protestors, though there were a few drivers who shouted expletives at the protest and one who waved a MAGA hat as he passed in a red truck.
Vince Miller, who stood a ways back in the park wearing a black cowboy hat and Charlie Kirk sweatshirt, said he attended in order to have conversations with people who disagree with him. He explained that he believes that ICE officers need more training but that he does “support ICE.”
The crowd dwindled beginning around 4:30 p.m., though some diehard protestors stayed past 5 p.m.
Even as people left, Merced College students Autumn Xiong and Max Coronado still held their signs which read “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “Stop killing our neighbors.”
“(I am here for) a personal reason,” Coronado shared, “I’m Native American, and … it’s absolutely ridiculous that there’s, there’s people being taken and kidnapped off the streets.”
Coronado explained that her grandmother was sent to a residential school and added, “we’ve seen this in history before.”
“People should not be taken away from their families and even be killed in broad daylight by these ICE officers …we should be practicing using our voices for something that’s right,” Xiong said.
