Anti-ICE protesters denounce Trump at the Dublin Spire

A crowd of disquieted Dublin residents gathered at the Spire yesterday evening to demonstrate against the Trump administration and ICE's brutality in Minneapolis.

The event, held by People Before Profit, featured speeches from Americans living in Ireland and organisers.

The protest was held in the wake of Alex Pretti’s January 24 killing at the hands of federal agents and the subsequent military action in Minneapolis. His is the second high-profile killing by a federal agent in Minneapolis this month.

"Somebody sent me the video of his killing," said former People Before Profit–Solidarity politician Bríd Smith to Hot Press. "I was just stunned by what I saw."

But Smith was heartened by the mobilisation seen in Minneapolis. "There’s another side to it, and that is how inspiring it is to see the communities of that area united in fighting back. They’re terribly brave people. After two people have been executed… the communities are still mobilising, organising, giving support to immigrants and their families."

"For me, there’s a lesson in that. How decent, how fundamentally courageous, and how solidarity is a really strong sentiment inside human beings, even in Trump’s America."

Bríd Smith on January 26. Photo credit: Patrik Meier.

People Before Profit are calling for the eviction of U.S. forces from Shannon Airport and the cancellation of the St. Patrick's Day visit to Washington, D.C. Spokespeople also expressed their solidarity with the general strike in Minneapolis.

A pamphlet handed out by People Before Profit read "F*CK FASCISM, F*CK ICE" over an image of President Trump and Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

"Fascism means that all laws and all norms are broken, that oppressed people are further oppressed and killed, and that it’s legitimate to do what you want to minorities, people of colour, people who are queer," said Smith. "If that’s what fascism means, then yes, we have fascism. We have it in the shape of Trump and his regime and his brutal forces that he’s employed in ICE."

Minnesota native Avery Hottinger agreed. "I think it’s textbook authoritarianism," she said to Hot Press. "The government is lying to us. They’re hoping people comply out of fear. They’re bringing in policy that’s dangerous to people."

"It’s been a horrific year for Minnesota," Hottinger continued. "We had the Annunciation shooting, we had the Hortman assassinations, we’ve had multiple murders in the streets… I think this is the thing that’s the hardest to watch is that people are surprised right now… We were warned this was going to happen, and it’s happening."

American Eli Kane opened the evening with a rebuke of U.S. actions. "They want to frighten dissidents into submission and complete a program scapegoating deportations," he said of the American government. "It's not the first time the U.S. has chosen a group to oppress in order to direct people away from the real cause of crises."

Eli Kane on January 26. Photo credit: Patrik Meier.

In our interview, Kane said the news out of Minneapolis reminded him of 2020's Black Lives Matter protests and the nationwide discord that followed.

"I remember the way that the National Guard came into my city, Washington D.C., and how terrifying that was when we were out to protest, tear gas rolling across the streets," he said to Hot Press. "Some friends of mine were chased into a house, and they threw tear gas in through the windows."

"It’s horrifying to see this happening for the purpose of mass deportations, which is ultimately a program of ethnic cleansing... To see that kind of police violence against U.S. citizens and against migrants, all of whom should be welcome in American cities—it's just terrible."

Between speakers, chants of "no one is illegal on stolen land" and "no ICE, no KKK, no fascist U.S.A." were accompanied by a drummer.

UCD student and Minnesotan Avery Vogt spoke of her experience being far from home during the tumult.

"It’s heart-wrenching to feel as though the people who were there for me when I needed them as a child, who opened their doors to me and set a spot for me at their table, I cannot be there for," Vogt said to the crowd. "It’s an immense privilege to be here and be safe, but it absolutely wrecks me every day... knowing what the people what raised me are going through."

Avery Vogt on January 26. Photo credit: Patrik Meier.

Vogt shared her experience of returning to Minnesota over the winter holiday. "I hadn’t been back since Trump had been inaugurated," she stated. "The Twin Cities I know is one of so much love and such a bright and energetic community. But I came back to a completely different Twin Cities."

"People are disappearing off the streets and the feeling of fear is palpable," she said. "It’s like everyone is holding their breath there."

Like Vogt, Hottinger emphasized that ICE’s present-day actions in her home state of Minnesota are in line with the U.S.’s broader history. "We had slave catchers, we had people picking up native kids and putting them in schools. None of this is new."

Regarding her experience as an American immigrant to Ireland, Hottinger expressed feeling shamed for her heritage. "There was a long time of people laughing at us, like we deserve this, the U.S. is so terrible, so we deserve what’s happening to us. It became this butt of the joke," she said. "People hear my accent and ask me how I feel about Trump, and then they make fun of where I’m from. They make fun of the people that are suffering these consequences. Millions and millions of people didn’t vote for this."

"The severity is underestimated here," she said of Ireland. "You think it could never happen to you and then it does. I think people need to not look away from what’s going on."