Protesters took to the streets in Minneapolis on Friday, 30 January, joined by student walkouts across the United States, demanding the withdrawal of federal immigration agents after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot in the city.
The demonstrations came amid controversy over President Donald Trump’s Operation Metro Surge, which deployed 3,000 federal officers—five times the size of the Minneapolis Police Department—to patrol the streets in tactical gear.
Protesters braved sub‑freezing temperatures in downtown Minneapolis, with families, elderly residents and young activists calling for an end to the aggressive tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Teachers and school staff also joined demonstrations near the sites of the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, while rock star Bruce Springsteen performed at a fundraiser for the victims, debuting his song Streets of Minneapolis.
Organisers reported around 250 nationwide protests in 46 states, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, under the slogan: “No work. No school. No shopping. Stop funding ICE.”
The federal response has drawn criticism. Acting FBI chief of the Minneapolis field office, Jarrad Smith, was reassigned to headquarters, while former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested for protesting inside a St. Paul church.
An internal ICE memo reportedly expanded agents’ authority to arrest without a warrant, prompting further backlash.
Viral videos of heavily armed ICE agents have driven approval of Trump’s immigration policy to the lowest level of his second term, according to a Reuters poll.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called for a full drawdown of federal forces, while Trump signalled only a limited de‑escalation, insisting his officers would continue operations.
Nationwide, schools from Aurora, Colorado, to Brooklyn, New York, saw walkouts and cancelled classes, as students carried signs denouncing ICE and the federal operation.
At DePaul University in Chicago, protesters declared their campus a “sanctuary” and condemned federal tactics as “fascist.”
Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took t...
Saudi Arabia has restored its vital East-West oil pipeline to near-full capacity, but escalating Houthi attacks on energy facilities, airports and ...
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Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
The Saudi-led coalition says it has carried out a series of military operations against Houthi targets in Yemen after attacks on two Saudi airports left three people dead and dozens injured.
Azerbaijan and the five Central Asian states have signed two key documents at the 8th Consultative Meeting of Heads of State in Turkmenbashi, formalising a broader framework for regional cooperation in transport, trade, energy, digitalisation and security.
It started with classrooms. Too many students, not enough teachers, deteriorating buildings and growing anxiety over what comes after high school. But within weeks, a movement that began outside French lycées had spread across the country.
Britain and Israel have reached a temporary compromise over the future of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, easing a diplomatic dispute that had threatened to further strain relations between the two countries.
South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
The Pentagon says it will livestream the execution of former U.S. Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. It would be the first publicly livestreamed execution in U.S. history.
U.S. federal immigration agents shot and wounded a man in a car with a five-year-old boy inside in New York City’s Bronx neighbourhood on Thursday, city officials, police and witnesses say.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sharply criticised the United States following a series of Russian attacks that killed more than 70 people over two days, arguing that Washington is not doing enough to help Kyiv counter Moscow's continued assault.
Britain and Israel have reached a temporary compromise over the future of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, easing a diplomatic dispute that had threatened to further strain relations between the two countries.
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