On the ground with thousands of anti-ICE protestors

"It was too cold to take off my mittens and check Google Maps so I put my faith in the trickle of bundled-up people ahead of me. All of them were carrying signs and wearing whistles around their necks on top of layers and layers of winter clothing. At first there were dozens of us walking toward Government Plaza, across the street from Minneapolis City Hall, and within a block it was hundreds. By the time I arrived it was thousands."

"Some reports said five to ten thousand, but on the ground, it felt like a single vibrating mass that was too large to count. I made my way through the throng, repeating "excuse me" and "pardon me" despite the din because the people here are above all else unfailingly polite. Someone offered me a "Fuck ICE" pin. Someone else offered me a chocolate-chip cookie. Another offered me a red vuvuzela. All three declined to be named or interviewed."

It was too cold to remove mittens, so participants followed a trickle of bundled-up marchers toward Government Plaza. Many carried signs and wore whistles over winter layers, and the crowd swelled from dozens to reportedly five to ten thousand, feeling like a single vibrating mass. Marchers stayed unfailingly polite, offering pins, cookies, and vuvuzelas while declining interviews. Friday, January 30 was a second general strike in the Twin Cities after federal immigration officers killed Alex Pretti, organized by Somali and Black student groups at the University of Minnesota. The hastily organized strike still overflowed the plaza and light-rail, with protesters chanting "No more Minnesota nice, Minneapolis will strike" amid jubilant yet outraged energy.

Read at The Verge