SEQUIM, Wash.—More than 500 protesters holding lighted candles stood at the main intersection here last night, applauding Rep. Emily Randall’s call for termination of funds to Homeland Security to end what she called the ICE “murders” in Minneapolis.
Randall thanked the people of her district on the Olympic Peninsula for mobilizing thousands of protesters in nearly daily vigils in Sequim, Port Angeles, and Port Townsend. They are protesting the killing of U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis, and what many consider a lawless occupation of multiple cities by violent, masked Federal gunmen. She told the crowd, Good and Pretti are victims of outright “murder” by Federal agents. She urged the crowd to bombard the Senate with demands that the Senators vote to block funding of DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The crowd erupted in applause and shouts of “right on!”
It was one of thousands of candlelight vigils in cities and towns across the nation in mourning for the ICE executions of Good and Pretti, both shot dead by masked ICE and Border Patrol agents in the past few days.
Rep. Randall came to the vigil from her home in Port Orchard after returning from Washington, D.C., where she joined 150 other Housemembers in calling for the impeachment of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Randall also joined nearly all Democratic Housemembers in voting to terminate funding for DHS.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, had been pushing for approval of the spending bill. Then came the murder of Alex Pretti, shot in the back of the head as Federal agents pushed him to the ground. “I will not support the DHS bill as it stands,” she said. “Federal agents cannot murder people in broad daylight and face zero consequences.”
A question in the crowd was how Washington State’s other U.S. Senator, Maria Cantwell, will line up.
If the Senate cannot muster a two-thirds majority vote to approve the spending bill, there could be a Federal government shutdown this Saturday. Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the killings in Minneapolis are “appalling” and Democrats “will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”
Rep. Randall reminded the crowd that it is an election year. She urged the crowd to help turn out a massive vote to end Republican majority control of the House and Senate. She cited seats in Arizona, Washington State, and other Congressional districts across the nation that can be flipped from Republican to Democratic. Ending Republican control on Capitol Hill, she said, is key to stopping Trump’s authoritarian rule. The crowd applauded and cheered.
People in the crowd held signs with messages like, “Renee Nicole Good” and “Alex Pretti: We Mourn.” One woman held the sign she had painted, “ICE Cold Killers.”
A young woman farmer from Dungeness linked the ICE killings in Minneapolis with the death of nearly 100,000 Palestinians by the Israeli military, armed by the Pentagon, in Gaza. “DEFUND ICE AND THE IDF: WE WON’T FORGET MURDER. GENOCIDE,” her sign proclaimed.
It was a cold night, but it was still, so even though the candles flickered, the flames were not blown out. It had been only a few days since an estimated 800 people celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with a street-corner vigil here in Sequim.
Someone began to sing Dr. King’s favorite hymn: “We shall overcome, we shall overcome, we shall overcome someday. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome someday.” Many in the crowd joined the singing.
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