In the days after the murder of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol, coming right after the murder of Renee Good, organizers in Minneapolis called for a Nationwide Shutdown on Friday January 30: Justice For Alex Pretti & Renee Nicole Good. No Work, No School, No Shopping! Other organizations also called for Ice Out Of Everywhere protests on January 31. Over these two days, tens of thousands of people from all walks of life took to the streets in protests across the country. Over 200 bike rides in honor of Pretti and Good were organized in the U.S. and internationally. Artists were moved as well—Hyperallergic.com posted paintings and drawings they found online dedicated to Alex Pretti. Musicians wrote songs dedicated to Pretti, Good and Minneapolis. Athletes are speaking out. Artists at the Grammy Awards are also using their platform to oppose ICE.
For the first time in a major national way, this call was taken up widely by high school and college students. The Somali Student Association, Liberian Student Association, Black Student Union and Ethiopian Student Association at the University of Minnesota jointly called for walkouts. And it spread. In cities and in rural areas, students, including some under threats of suspension walked out of class and converged at city halls, state capitols, and major parks. Students at university campuses stepped out—UCLA, Howard University in Washington, DC, Brown University in Rhode Island as well as others.
Below, we gathered a sampling of what took place this weekend.
Dolores Park in San Francisco, January 30, 2026. Photo: Nate Love
Joining in the Nationwide Shutdown, and Raising People’s Sights to the Possibility of a Whole New Way to Live
From members of the REVCOM CORPS For The Emancipation Of Humanity, Los Angeles
The Revcom Corps for the Emancipation of Humanity joined in on the nationwide shutdown on Friday, January 30 for no work, no school, and no shopping. Thousands marched in Downtown Los Angeles. Widespread student walkouts converged at the steps of City Hall. The crowd consisted of middle school and high school students, folks from the middle strata, business employees, people of all nationalities, particularly Latinos and people of color. The Corps led chants of “ICE OUT, TRUMP OUT!” People also walked out of their jobs. Signs spoke bitterness, anger and ridicule of the fascist regime. The Revcoms made impact by giving backing to the sentiments of the masses through a speak-out while also diverting their outrage to not only that the whole fascist regime must go, but an understanding that this fascism arose out of this system, and that we need a revolution and a whole new way to live.
Many screamed out “Fuck ICE!” We have not seen this level of outpouring since the initial invasion and raids by ICE into Los Angeles at the beginning of Trump 2.0.
A Latina woman in her business suit got on the mic to state that she had walked out of work because of the magnitude of the times and felt like she had to be out in the streets. A Black man broke into tears as he paid tribute to his mom who participated in the Civil Rights era and his grandmother who lived through Jim Crow segregation. Some came up to say this was their first protest. After the initial round in the speak-out in the middle of the street, we made an announcement to bring the speak-out to the steps of City Hall so that more people could participate and hear what was being said collectively. At this point we also involved one of the students who spoke out to help lead and bring forward more students to say why they walked out. A growing crowd began walking over to the steps. From there, we added an additional speaker for the crowd of hundreds to hear.
A high school student said she walked out of her math test because being out in the streets was much more important.
Michelle Xai, a leader of the Revcom Corps, was interviewed by the press. Leading the speak-out for a couple of hours, she did agitation on bringing out where this fascism came out of and the possibility of a radically different world, while holding up high the We Need and We Demand a Fundamentally Different System pamphlet. At different points, members of the Corps fanned out to distribute the pamphlet. Stacks got into young people’s hands as they took one and passed the stack on out toward the outer edges of the crowd. Masses gravitated toward the We Need and We Demand pamphlets by the steps as the march began to take off toward Boyle Heights.
Don Lemon appeared in court Friday, January 30. He was arrested for being present as a journalist at a protest at a Minnesota church against the ICE and CPB occupation of Minneapolis. He was charged with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and for violating a law that forbids obstructing access to houses of worship. He pleaded not guilty and was released.
Painting of Alex Pretti, “Alex Pretti defends his city” by Molly Crabapple. Screenshot from Hyperallergic.com
University High School students, Waco, Texas, January 30, 2026. Photo: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge
Refuse Fascism at protest of thousands against ICE in Albuquerque, NM, January 30, 2026 Photo: Special to revcom.us