Advertisement
In late January, a call went out to clergy across the country: Come to Minneapolis to lift your voices in solidarity against ICE occupation and the murder of Renée Good. Hundreds of UU clergy and laypeople from across the nation answered that call.
On January 23, they joined tens of thousands of others for The Day of Truth and Freedom, a nonviolent moral action calling for the end of ICE operations in Minnesota. What follows are photos taken by UUs that show what it was like to be part of the powerful demand for accountability and justice.
MARCH (Multifaith Antiracism, Change & Healing) put out the call to clergy in response to targeted violence against immigrant communities throughout the country and after an ICE agent fatally shot Good, a Minneapolis resident and 37-year-old mother of three, on January 7.
Multifaith participants gather at a Minneapolis church on Thursday, January 22, 2026, to fellowship with each other and learn more about the activities.
Unitarian Universalists gather on Thursday, January 22, 2026, at a local congregation that offered opportunities for spiritual grounding before the public activities.
Members of the UU BIPOC contingent gather in solidarity and represent DRUUMM, Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries.
UUs gather their hands in unity before participating in “ICE Out” acts of public witness and resistance.
At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, clergy and others call on airlines to stop running deportation flights and complying with ICE, which is arresting airport employees while on the job.
Marching together on Friday, January 23, 2026, in a tightly packed and boisterous crowd, people move slowly through the city in subzero temperatures holding signs and chanting, “ICE out!” and “No justice, no peace, no ICE in our streets.”
A group of UU ministers participate in the march: (from left) Rev. Kent Saleska, Rev. Rachel Baker, Rev. Lisa Bovee Kemper, and Rev. Tony Lorenzen.
“ICE Out” protesters marching in frigid conditions on Friday, January 23, 2026, in downtown Minneapolis, pass buildings with murals dedicated to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The march, which drew thousands, included UU clergy and laypeople who traveled to the city from other states in a show of support.
Rev. Karen G. Johnston, senior minister of First UU Society of Burlington, Vermont, holds a sign created by congregant Sarah Rosedahl specifically to bring to the march. “As I marched with 50,000 of my newest friends, so many people approached me with gratitude for having traveled from out of state to be in solidarity with them,” Johnston told UU World. “I was honored to represent Unitarian Universalism via my Side With Love stole and to represent Vermont.”
The ‘ICE Out’ protest in Minneapolis on Friday, January 23, 2026, draws thousands to the city’s downtown to denounce the Department of Homeland Security’s ongoing “Operation Metro Surge.”
The day after the march, federal agents shot dead another 37-year-old Minneapolis activist, Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a Veteran’s Affairs facility, igniting widespread calls for reform and an investigation. Clergy came to the scene of the shooting and a memorial soon began to grow.