Syracuse is joining countless cities across the country, holding an anti-ICE rally this week.
The sound of honking horns filled the air around Columbus Circle Monday afternoon, as hundreds of people gathered to voice their anger about the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers.
Karen Grimm from Lafayette said she has been to multiple rallies, but right now, she is speaking out against the deadly shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer last week in Minneapolis.
“When the president says don't believe your eyes and ears, when the president says she was a domestic terrorist, and (Jonathan) Ross was the victim, that's just so hypocritical, and it's 180 degrees from the truth, and we can all see it," she said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the officer was defending himself and his colleagues, and Paul Calderwood from Phoenix, who came out to Columbus Circle as a counter-protester, said he agrees with that.
"I think ICE is doing what we elected President Trump to do. They're out there. They're arresting people," he said.
The “Ice Out for Good” rally was put together by multiple social justice groups, who called for local leaders to push back on cooperating with ICE operations moving forward.
And in addition to anger, there is a feeling of fear. Sarah, who lives in Syracuse, declined to give her last name.
“In this time and day in age, we don't give our names in full because this government can make our lives really hard,” she said.
But she does have a message for President Trump.
"Get out. You should be impeached,” she said. “Every one of them. They're not doing anything in good faith."
Bonnie Strunk from DeWitt said she’s worried about the escalation of violence she’s seeing from the Department of Homeland Security.
"This (protest) is an opportunity to let our voices be heard, and it's just something that we're going to have to address on an everyday basis going forward,” she said.
After the rally, protesters moved to Clinton Square for a vigil honoring those who lost their lives in incidents involving ICE.
