‘ICE Out’ protest draws nearly 500 people to Sandpoint

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

For the second consecutive week in Sandpoint, residents took to the streets to protest the overreach of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in U.S. cities after fatal shootings that have left the country on edge.

The local event was tied to a larger national protest, which saw an estimated 300 demonstrations across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., organized by the national grassroots organization 50501.

An estimated 400-500 people gathered from noon-2 p.m. on Jan. 31 in front of the Bonner County Courthouse, many holding signs that criticized ICE and President Donald Trump’s surging immigration enforcement across the country. A week before, demonstrators stood along Fifth Avenue in Sandpoint to protest the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis.

“People are really concerned about our civil liberties being violated,” event organizer Rachel Castor told the Reader. “They’re concerned about our government turning into a private police force. They’re concerned about people being shot in the street.”

The Sandpoint protest was organized by Sandpoint 50501 and Sandpoint Indivisible.

Castor said the protests in Minneapolis in the wake of Pretti’s killing have inspired people to get involved.

“A lot of people are saying, ‘This isn’t what we voted for, this isn’t what we wanted,’” Castor said. “‘We didn’t want people abducted in the streets. We didn’t want people shot in the streets. We didn’t want every brown and Black person in the United States to be afraid to leave their houses.’ … 

“Congress, the Senate and even Trump backed down from their positions, so I think it’s working,” Castor added. “People want to be a part of the change they see happening.”