In show of solidarity after Minneapolis shooting, hundreds rally against ICE in Maine

Kim Wells from Portland holds a sign with a picture of Renee Nicole Good, who was killed by an ICE officer on Jan. 7. Wells said while Good wasn't the first person killed by ICE, she represents “Americans who don’t necessarily have to come out and speak, protesting.” (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)

Expressing fear and resolve in the face of a heightened federal crackdown, several hundred people gathered in Portland’s Monument Square on Saturday as part of a national wave of demonstrations following the killing of a legal observer in Minneapolis by a federal agent. 

The weekly demonstration organized by the local chapter of Indivisible, the national protest group, usually draws 60-100 people. But the crowd swelled after Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot during a Wednesday raid on the city’s immigrant community.

Portland resident Jen Boggs told those assembled that as an immigrant born in the Philippines, “I am afraid, and I am willing to bet that a lot of you are afraid here, too.”

Portland resident Jen Boggs told those assembled that as an immigrant born in the Philippines, “I am afraid, and I am willing to bet that a lot of you are afraid here, too.” (Photo by Lauren McCauley/ Maine Morning Star)

“We are afraid and that is not fair. None of this is fair. We have laws, they don’t obey them. We have rights, they don’t observe them,” she said, imploring the crowd to be brave. “We are here together.” 

Many protesters held homemade signs denouncing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and President Donald Trump. Following similar deployments to Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon, the Trump administration sent more than 2,000 law enforcement officers to the Twin Cities in recent days. The Department of Homeland Security has boasted more than 1500 arrests in the state since the surge began last month.

Part of that force was ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who Trump said was justified in shooting Good, contradicting video evidence of the encounter. Since the shooting, the administration said it is sending even more federal officers to the city.

ICE has also been spotted on the streets of Maine in recent weeks.

“Your ICE thugs can’t stop us. We’ll stand up side by side,” sang Cape Elizabeth resident Becky Bronson, adapting the lyrics of “All you fascists” by Woody Guthrie. “For everyone you’re hurting, for everyone who’s died. We’ll melt you down, get the f**k out of our town.”

Saturday’s rally is the second protest the city has seen since the Minneapolis shooting, echoing demonstrations across the country. On Thursday evening, hundreds gathered in downtown Portland for a vigil. Other rallies were planned elsewhere in Maine Saturday, including South Portland, Yarmouth, Bangor and Saco.

In a statement posted to her Senate campaign Facebook page Wednesday evening, Gov. Janet Mills called the shooting a “horrific tragedy” and said Trump “has weaponized ICE into an unaccountable, masked armed force deployed at his will to target those he opposes.”

“Maine cannot and will not turn a blind eye to ICE’s unacceptable actions,” she added, pointing to her recent announcement that she would allow legislation restricting local authorities from carrying out federal immigration enforcement to become law. 

Molly Curren Rowles, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, said that the “level of brutality that we are seeing displayed by ICE is unprecedented.”

“I think when we see violations of law like this one, the extent of danger is really impalpable,” Curren Rowles said, adding that the demonstrations show that there’s “many people who realize, this is the time to speak up, and act up and get involved.”

Stacey Metzler of Hopewell, New Jersey, who described herself as “a loudmouth chick from New Jersey,” speaks at an anti-ICE rally on Monument Square in Portland on Jan. 10, 2026. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star) A young protester holds a sign protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a Jan. 10, 2026 rally in Portland’s Monument Square. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)

Good was killed while acting as a legal observer, which Curren Rowles explained is a show “of solidarity for people who may not be personally affected to go and provide support and watch what’s happening and observe.”

Portland resident Kim Wells said, for her, Good represents “Americans who don’t necessarily have to come out and speak, protesting.” 

Wells, who stood on the roadside holding a homemade sign featuring a picture of Good, also pointed out that she isn’t the first person who has been killed by ICE. “Immigrants have been getting murdered for the last year, but it takes a middle class white woman for people to start uniting,” she said.

Asked how Mainers can keep themselves safe, Curren Rowles pointed to the ACLU’s many resources and said, “Knowing your rights is critically important.”

“We need to understand our rights in order to exercise them and also in order to make sure they don’t go away and advocate for them,” she said. “And this is the time to really do that.”