Anti-ICE protesters swarmed into the Trump Tower atrium in Manhattan Saturday afternoon, chanting names of people that have misplaced their lives amid the federal government’s immigration crackdown.
Beginning round 1 p.m., greater than 30 demonstrators planted themselves for an hour and a half inside President Trump’s gilded rental tower at Fifth Ave. and 56th St. in Midtown. Chanting “Abolish ICE!” and “How many more have to die?” they held up indicators with images of individuals they stated had been killed by federal brokers or in any other case died throughout enforcement actions or in custody.
The protesters had been peaceable and left Trump Tower, as deliberate, after an hour and a half. (Gabriele Holterman)
“We went into the atrium at Trump Tower — which is open to the public — and we stood with pictures of people who have either died in ICE custody, been murdered by ICE, or were killed while trying to get away from ICE when ICE was trying to kidnap them,” Jamie Bauer, 67, an organizer with Rise and Resist, stated. “And we stood in the atrium there and read the names of the people who had died. And then after each name, we said, ‘How many more have to die?’ We did a very small amount of ‘Abolish ICE’ chanting.”
“I mean, we weren’t chanting for an hour,” Bauer added. “We chanted, like, 5 instances, ‘Abolish ICE! Abolish ICE! Abolish ICE!’ after which every of us made a small assertion about why we had been there.
“There were, I believe, 45 names,” Bauer stated of the ICE victims whose names the protesters known as out.
The protesters from Rise and Resist known as out the names of 45 individuals they stated have died on account of ICE’s immigration enforcement crackdown. (Gabriele Holterman)
Trump Tower safety and NYPD officers didn’t transfer to kick the protesters out or arrest them. The demonstrators peacefully left on their very own, having determined beforehand that their motion would solely final an hour and a half.
The demonstration comes amid intense stress throughout the nation as many demand the top of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, if not the outright dismantling of the federal company.
“This (Trump) term’s big lie is ‘ICE is going after the worst of the worst.’ You hear that over and over again,” one protester stated through the temporary atrium occupation. “’The worst of the worst’ is a lie. When you hear those words, think ‘lie.’ It’s Trump’s big lie. And we’re not gonna put up with it.”
The protest was organized by Rise and Resist NYC.
No arrests had been made on the protest, in line with police.
