Even before the third immigration officer involved shooting in Minneapolis left 37-year-old Alex Pretti dead, US Vice President JD Vance noted how different that city was.
On Thursday, while visiting the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Vance wondered aloud why there wasn’t a “same level of chaos” in other cities that saw crackdowns by immigration officials.
“Maybe the problem is only in Minneapolis,” said Vance, who also urged local officials to cooperate with law enforcement.
Part of the answer, perhaps, lies in Minnesota’s strong history of protest going back to the 1890s, and the important moments the Twin Cities played in labor and civil rights movements.
Take for example, the brutal Teamsters strike in which two protesters lost their lives to bullets on July 20, 1934, a day that became known as Bloody Friday and eventually led Congress to pass the National Labor Relations Act a year later.
Local historians see echoes of the past in what is playing out on their streets now.
“Sadly, there are parallels,” said Peter Rachleff, a retired professor of labor history at St.
“It certainly seems like we’re in a historic moment right now where the consequences of what’s going on … are the same as their consequences,” he said.
The Teamsters died a rallying cry
Minnesota’s pro-labor roots were on display Friday as 20,000 braved the coldest warnings to march against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), chanting, “Stand up! Get down! Minneapolis is a union town.”
Those roots go as far back as the Great Northern Railroad Strike of 1894 when Minnesota was not the subject of a successful 18-day strike that reversed months of consecutive wage cuts, Rachleff said.
That led to a nationwide railroad strike known as the Pullman strike, Rachleff said, and led to the establishment of Labor Day, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland in the fall of 1894 as a US national holiday.
In May 1934, Minneapolis – the largest truck distribution center in the midwest at the time – came to a near standstill in May when truckers walked off the job demanding better wages and working hours.
In July, when the Teamsters strike broke out, the police opened fire, wounding 67 strikers and killing two: Henry Ness and John Belor.
“That death was a turning point,” said Chantel Rodrigeuz, senior historian for the Minnesota Historical Society.
“It led to widespread support for the Teamsters in the name of Henry Ness, who was also a veteran of World War I. His name became a rallying cry for the strike and the movement.”
After the shooting, the governor declared martial law and mobilized 4,000 members of the National Guard.
“At that time, the National Guard did things like raiding the headquarters of the strikers, arresting union leaders, and putting them in custody at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul,” said Rodriguez.
“Despite all this violence, these two people dead, many injured and increasingly supporting the Teamsters and organizing the workers, the Teamsters have won all their demands.”
Integrated community planning
The Twin Cities have also played an important role in the civil rights movement, organizing in a way that looks similar to the current collective public approach to protests against ICE, Rodriguez said.
Currently, a broad base of connected volunteers from religious organizations and civil society organizations have established ICE neighborhood watches, grocery deliveries for immigrants afraid to leave their homes, and watchdog groups for schools and religious institutions trying to protect students and worshipers from ICE sweeps.
In the late 1960s, Rodriguez said that racial coalitions began to form in other areas including the Black Power Movement; the Brown Berets, part of the Chicano Movement that sought to empower Mexican Americans; and the American Indian Movement (AIM), whose roots are in north Minneapolis.
Groups organized neighborhood patrols in neglected areas.
“You see that kind of planning that says, ‘hey, the system is failing us, so I think we should come together and find ways to protect our neighbors,’ and that’s what they’ve been doing,” Rodriguez said.
“Some of those patrols were armed, some were unarmed, but it was the police’s way of interacting with the community, right? And you see that level of planning back in the 1960s.”
Rodriguez drew parallels between that history and community clocks today, including in residential areas and near schools.
George Floyd and 2020
Then there is the recent history of the protest in Minneapolis when George Floyd, a black man, was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer in 2020. It was the center of racial justice protests across the US.
“I feel like that time was an important motivator to create an opportunity to develop strong programs and networks,” Rodriguez said.
“2020 has come and gone, but those organizations are still there. Those networks are still there. And … in many ways, you see that people today rely on some of those networks and more to respond to the moment,” he said.
Rachleff says there is also a new generation organizing for the first time that was inspired by what social activists achieved in 2020 through strikes, boycotts, protests, marches and rallies.
What impressed him the most was the diversity of the people who made up this organization. He mentioned that regardless of a person’s age, physical ability or political opinion, there are many ways in which people can participate depending on what actions they are comfortable with.
“Do you want to stand face-to-face with ICE? Do you want to go to a workshop to learn what to do if you’re pepper sprayed or tear gassed? Do you want to police outside schools and protect children? Do you want to raise money for resources?” he said.
“In the process of doing that, you’re going to meet people you didn’t know before. And maybe you’re going to learn new ideas from them, or they’re going to learn new ideas from you. That’s really what the movement is all about. And what we’re seeing today in Minnesota is a reflection of that movement.”
