Minnesota faith, union, community leaders call for economic blackout on Jan. 23
Faith leaders, union representatives and community members are calling for a Day of Truth and Freedom on Friday, Jan. 23 — urging all Minnesotans not to go to work, school or go shopping in response to Operation Metro Surge.
Organizers held a news conference Tuesday morning outside of the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis to announce the statewide day of mourning and action. It comes amid ongoing tensions over the federal law enforcement surge in Minnesota that escalated after ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Good last week.
Auxiliary Minister JaNaé Bates Imari of St. Paul's Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church led the conference, calling for Minnesotans to "leverage our economic power, our labor, our prayer for one another."
"What we have seen and what we have witnessed, what we have all gone through is not normal," Bates Imari said. "[Renee Good was] standing up for her neighbor. Her whistle blowing was returned by bullets. We will not, we cannot let that stand. Minnesota will not continue to be a testing ground for the kind of fear and violence that is expected for the rest of this country."
Rodrigo Cardoza, owner of Mercado Central in Minneapolis, said Operation Metro Surge has devastated the local economy, particularly small businesses owned by members of the immigrant community.
"What we are living through is an economic violence against all of us," Cardoza said. "Immigrants are not the problem. We are job creators, partners, community builders."
Abdikarim Hassan Qazi, a Somali-American rideshare driver, called on his fellow drivers to shut down service on Jan. 23. He described how he has been bullied and harassed since the operation began last month.
"We're facing a tsunami of hate sponsored by our own federal government," Qazi said. "The masks are gonna come off. We're going to hold them responsible for all their actions."
Rev. Brian Herron of north Minneapolis' Zion Baptist Church also described the Day of Truth and Freedom as "spiritual warfare."
"This is about evil, dark principalities and wickedness in high places," Herron said. "Darkness can't drive out darkness. Only light can break darkness, and we choose to be light today. We choose to speak peace and not hate."
The Day of Truth and Freedom will also include a march and rally in downtown Minneapolis at 2 p.m.
"I believe that this is going to rock this state in the most beautiful and glorious of ways," Bates Imari said. "It is going to open our eyes to what is possible. For too long we have been told nothing is possible, bow down, obey and do whatever it is that somebody at the top says to do. But we know that that is a lie from the pit of hell."
Organizers say several unions are also on board, including the St. Paul Federation of Educators, Unite Here Local 17, SEIU Local 26 and transit union ATU.