Chico protesters showed up today — in concert with anti-ICE rallies underway across the nation — with cardboard and printed signs, with costumes and canes, with walkers and strollers, to express outrage, disgust and anguish over recent shootings.
In the wake of the shooting that killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, more than 1,000 people participated in the Chico protest that first swarmed the entrance to Children’s Park and then spread out to line the Esplanade down to East Washington Avenue. They carried signs denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Trump administration and fascism.
An Indivisible Chico organizer said 1,320 people were mobilized from an effort that had only begun the previous afternoon in coordination with “ICE Out for Good” rallies across the country. Passing vehicles honked raucously in support, with the occasional truck spewing diesel fumes on the demonstrators.
NorCal Resist Chico says several people in Red Bluff were taken by ICE in recent days.
“You want to reverse the darkness when you see fascism beginning to descend on your country,” said Chico’s Alan Silver. “They find an excuse to terrorize the country. You have to do something.”
“Anyone can move out of the way of a slow-moving car,” said Silver’s wife Diane, referring to the ICE deportation officer who fatally shot Good, a white U.S. citizen.
Video circulating on social media shows 37-year-old Good in what seems to be an attempt to slowly drive away from a Jan. 7 immigration sweep after an officer tells her to “Get out of the fucking car.” Another officer then fires at her several times.
Two dramatically different narratives emerged immediately afterward, with the Trump Administration talking about “domestic terrorism,” and Vice President JD Vance stating on Jan. 9 that the officers are protected by “absolute immunity.”
Chico protesters – and many Americans across the country – say the video they’ve watched doesn’t suggest domestic terrorism at work. And Constitutional law experts have told the media that officers don’t have immunity that is absolute.
Kim Kurnizki was wearing the lime green monitor’s vest and called herself a “simple volunteer.” She said she volunteered to help because she’d like to see the country “get back to the Constitution and have a free press.”
“I’m here because I feel the need to be a presence for this cause,” Kurnizki said. “It embraces so many things that are near and dear to my heart.”
Pat Estrada, who came decked out as “Lady Liberty” with a “censored” tape across her mouth, said she’s so upset about the direction of the country that she sometimes “can’t sleep at night.”
“This is not the America I grew up in,” said 77-year-old Estrada. “They are making up lies about how [Renee Good] was killed. It’s out of control.”
Good was killed soon after more than 2,000 agents had been deployed to the Twin Cities, and her death — as well as the response from the Trump administration — have sparked protests and pushback across the country.
The day after Good was fatally shot, a Venezuelan couple was shot by a Border Patrol agent in Portland, Ore.
Indivisible and other organizations said more than 1,000 events across the country had been planned for this weekend.
Leslie Layton is editor of ChicoSol and a collaborator in the Aqui Estamos/Here We Stand reporting project.
Good to see so many people turn out! Thanks to ChicoSol for the coverage.