Labor unions and progressive organizations have called on workers across the state to stay home<\/b>
\nA \u201cno work, no school, no shopping\u201d blackout day of protest was kicked off by community leaders, faith leaders and labor unions on Friday in protest against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surge in the state.
The \u201cDay of Truth & Freedom\u201d protest comes in the wake of the killing of Renee Good, the unarmed woman killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Their demands include that ICE leave Minnesota, that the ICE officer who killed Good be legally held accountable, an end to additional federal funding for ICE, and for the agency to be investigated for human rights and constitutional violations.
Dozens of local businesses in Minnesota have announced closures in solidarity. The Minneapolis City Council endorsed the day of action and the general strike. The day of action culminates with a march in downtown Minneapolis at 2pm local time.
\u201cWe are going to be having dangerously cold weather on Friday \u2013 -10F with wind chills. Like the high is going to be -10F with wind chills of up to -20F,\u201d Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, president of the Minnesota Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, told the Guardian.
\u201cWe are a northern state, and we are built for the cold, and we are going to show up, but folks are going to need to pay attention to not just the march, but what people are doing, the individual stories of solidarity that people are going to be doing.\u201d
The Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state\u2019s federation of more than 1,000 affiliated local unions, has endorsed the day of action, along with dozens of local labor unions.<\/p>\n