Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Horizon Events Center in Clive as President Donald Trump was set to deliver a speech inside, with demonstrations fueled largely by outrage over two recent killings in Minneapolis involving federal immigration officers.
The protests on Tuesday, Jan 27, unfolded against the backdrop of heightened national scrutiny of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, following the January deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Both deaths have become flashpoints in a broader debate over the role of federal agents and drew demonstrators as Trump made his second visit to the state during his second term.
The city of Clive shut down Northwest 100th Street midday to create a designated “free speech area,” and protesters quickly filled the closed-off stretch near Swanson Boulevard. About 200 demonstrators were present shortly after noon. Within hours, the crowd swelled into the thousands, reaching over 2,000 individuals, according to estimates from protesters and law enforcement on the scene.
Protesters chanted slogans through megaphones and microphones while drums and other instruments echoed through the crowd. An Army-green helicopter circled overhead alongside drones as demonstrators continued to arrive in low temperatures that peaked at 21 degrees.
Despite the size and noise, the protest remained peaceful.
Deaths in Minneapolis drive turnout
Many demonstrators cited the recent killings of Good and Pretti as the reason they showed up.
Good, 37, was killed Jan. 7 in Minneapolis during a federal immigration enforcement action. Pretti, also 37, an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, was fatally shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Jan. 24 during a separate encounter tied to the same enforcement surge.
Olga Gonzalez, 52, of Ames, said the deaths were personal. She stood among protesters handing out sandwiches and water she prepared at home before driving down with two of her sons.
“As a mother, I’m here because of Renee Good,” Gonzalez said. “We’re all human beings. At the end of the day, we all have families to go back to. If one of us is hurt, we all bleed the same color.”
Gonzalez said two of her sons serve in the Iowa Army National Guard and another son was previously a police officer in Boone who has since died.
Michael Romey, 37, of Huxley, held a sign referencing the killings and quoting George Orwell’s “1984:” “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final and most essential command.”
“They’re asking us to do exactly that,” Romey said. “They’re saying things like ‘he’s a domestic terrorist.’ They said that hours after it happened. That’s insane. Then they want us to believe this,” he added in reference to Pretti.
Jessica Colada, 39, of Johnston, came during her lunch break wearing printed bullet holes taped to her clothing — 10 across her back in reference to Pretti and two on her face in reference to Good.
“I want everyone to remember the results of what’s going on with this regime,” Colada said.
Crowd grew as chants filled designated area
As the afternoon went on, protesters streamed steadily into the street, raising their fists as passing drivers honked in support. Other drivers shouted insults and made obscene gestures, prompting protesters to respond by chanting “shame.”
Some of the demonstrators’ chants were “The people, united, will never be divided,” “Shame, shame, shame,” and “Trans rights are human rights.”
Richard Sundin, 79, of Des Moines, a former Minnesota Coast Guard member, stood among the crowd holding a sign reading “Angry Minnesota Coast Guard Veteran.”
“This is not what our country’s about,” Sundin said. “This is insane, killing people in the streets. It just doesn’t make no sense.”
Sundin said his father, a World War II veteran who fought in the South Pacific, would have “died if he saw this.”
“That’s what they fought for,” he said. “This is ridiculous.”
Sundin compared current federal enforcement actions to Nazi-era policing and the Gestapo.
“I definitely think this is the same thing,” he said. “Look at the pattern, the way it’s been done. It’s the same thing they did with the brown shirts. It’s just killing people for nothing and throwing people out of the country for nothing. It doesn’t make sense.”
Rudy Rodriguez, whose parents immigrated from Mexico in the 1960s, carried a sign comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler.
“It’s just surprising how many people don’t read history books or even watch documentaries,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of us Latinos go to work with our heads down, we do what we got to do, we come back home and we do it all over again.”
Dennis Silver of Ankeny, a retired John Deere employee, criticized Trump’s economic and immigration policies.
“Tariffs have just totally killed exports for the American farmer,” Silver said. “I think ICE is just overly aggressive in their actions.”
Supporters and protesters share the spotlight
While thousands protested outside, Trump supporters gathered inside the Horizon Events Center for the speech. About 300 protesters remained outside as the speech began indoors.
A nearby Casey’s General Store filled with protesters and law enforcement personnel seeking warmth, food and restrooms. A staff member at the door managed the steady flow of people entering and leaving as lines formed for the bathroom and hot food was repeatedly restocked on the shelves.
Nicole Ryan Smith, 37, of Des Moines, staffed a small table offering coffee and hot chocolate donated by Slow Down Coffee Co. in Highland Park. As the afternoon went on, she said, other protesters brought additional coffee and snacks.
“It’s kind of becoming like a little potluck,” Smith said.
Multiple protesters said the turnout appeared to dwarf that during Trump’s July visit to Iowa.
As the protest began to thin later to less than a hundred by 5 p.m., Daniel Wanatee, a member of the Meskwaki Nation, said she stayed to represent Iowa’s Native communities and to call for accountability.
“I just came here to let people know that we still have 30,000 Native Americans in the state of Iowa,” Wanatee said. “This is all Native land, North and South America. To try and deport anybody from here, let alone any minority, doesn’t make sense. We’re all supposed to live here together peacefully.”