At least two pastors were among those shoved, shot at with pepper rounds, and exposed to pepper spray while protesting the actions of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on Wednesday, as protesters demonstrated after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a woman who had been observing them.
Susie Hayward, a United Church of Christ minister who serves as minister for justice organizing at Creekside UCC in the city, was among the dozens who rushed to the scene after news of the shooting broke. The pastor, who had already been patrolling after a spike in ICE activity around the city that day, joined a growing crowd protesting Department of Homeland Security officials as some of the agents began to leave the area.
Hayward, who lives a mile from the shooting site and has been involved in pushback to immigration enforcement actions in the city, is one of many faith leaders around the country who have been demonstrating against DHS and the ICE agents enacting President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort. Minnesota recently emerged as a target of the administration, with around 2,000 federal agents and officers expected to arrive in the city this week amid allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
