Even in a politically aware city where small-scale activism happens every day, how Seattle chose to stand in solidarity with Minneapolis over the last weekend of January was remarkable. It was an unapologetic rebuke to the deportations, arrests, and even killings that have occurred at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, which have dominated the national news discourse since New Year’s Day.
The first thrown stone came from City Hall. On Thursday, January 29, Mayor Katie Wilson announced a four-step plan for quickly preparing the city for a potential ICE invasion. This includes directing the Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers to record any ICE activity they come across, validate the identities of ICE agents, and then make this information accessible to community groups, city departments, and select prosecutors. She also barred ICE from staging civil immigration operations in city-owned spaces, like community centers and public parks.
The mayor’s plan, while largely appreciated by critics, brought concerns about how it will be enforced. If SPD officers aren’t receptive to their new orders, or ICE agents decide to ignore local laws, it’s unclear if Wilson has a backup plan. For his part, SPD Chief Shon Barnes sought to address these concerns.
"The City of Seattle is a welcoming city, and my officers will continue to abide by all laws and regulations that prohibit our participation in immigration enforcement,” said Barnes. “While we have no authority over federal agents or federal policies, we will document incidents if and when notified. The Seattle Police Department’s primary responsibility is the life safety of ALL people.”
By Friday, Seattleites did their part by hitting the streets. Some started early, in front of the Federal Building, skipping work or school to contribute to a nationwide general strike called for on social media. Others gathered around the downtown Target, which empowered some Target workers to speak out against their Minneapolis-based employer’s notable silence. Thousands more joined a Saturday rally led by Seattle-based educators, marching from Seattle Central College to downtown, causing “good trouble” by disrupting east-west traffic along the way.
This weekend was far from the first time that Seattle’s activist community has rallied against ICE. It’s been happening quietly but consistently among smaller, dedicated groups like the Troublemakers. It’s occasionally been louder, like when a day of peaceful protest against ICE last summer in Cal Anderson Park devolved into acts of vandalism and dumpster fires by a select few, unfortunately dominating the reporting of the action.
What made these protests different, however, was a prevailing need to remember the dead. The call to say Renee Good’s name remained strong. Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was killed the weekend before the protests, was remembered through chants, signs, and memorials.
In addition, 150 people, many from Seattle’s nursing community, gathered last Tuesday in front of the Seattle VA Medical Center, to pay their respects to Pretti through a silent candlelight vigil. Pretti worked at a VA hospital, tending to and providing comfort to members of the armed forces. For the nurses who know how hard Pretti’s work was and the veterans they serve, his death felt personal.
Sean Butterfield, who serves hospice patients at Kaiser Permanente, comes from a family of nurses. “My mom was an ICU nurse for the VA for most of her career. I know she would absolutely be out here too if she was still with us,” said Butterfield to the South Seattle Emerald. “[Pretti] could have just as well been me and half the people that I know.”
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