At the sound of a whistle, over 50 demonstrators dropped to the ground for a “die-in” at the parking lot of Medford’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on Tuesday.
The performance during a cold and foggy morning was to protest recent shootings by immigration authorities.
Organizer Herbert Rothschild, co-chair of a local Indivisible chapter, said he had a message for staff in the office.
“We want you to know that you are not serving the interests of the American people,” he said. “We don't want you to intimidate our sisters and brothers in immigrant communities. We value them. We appreciate them.”
Rothschild said volunteers regularly come here to monitor the facility, but protests are something new. Monday, the Rogue Valley Pepper Shakers, a progressive activist group, held a short event at the building that included costumes and noisemakers reminiscent of Portland ICE protests.
“We're out here to say ICE out for good. There's a pun on ‘good’ because it refers to Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot in Minneapolis six days ago,” Rothschild said.
The killing of Good by an ICE officer has sparked nationwide protests.
Last week, Border Patrol officers also shot and wounded a man and woman in Portland. The U.S. Department of Justice has charged the man, Luis David Nino-Moncada, with aggravated assault of a federal office.
Lauren Pedicini was one of the first protestors to arrive. She said she’s been attending protests regularly since the federal government delayed distributing food assistance during the shutdown in November.
“It's not so much anti-Trump as pro-America,” she said. “And pro-humanity and each other and universal consciousness.”
Pedicini, who is a mother, said she was shocked by Good’s death.
“She has three children,” she said. “It's just so extremely upsetting. She was murdered in front of her wife.”
Protestors heckled a few vehicles as they drove out of the parking lot. But no staff at the facility confronted the demonstrators. One participant read a poem related to ICE and led the group in a song.
People were prohibited from parking in front of the office. After the event, which lasted around 30 minutes, they walked back to their cars still holding signs and banners, with some playing music.
