“Hey Hey! Ho Ho! ICE has got to go,” was being chanted in downtown Tampa, Monday, as emotions ran high. The protest was held outside City Hall where community members gathered together for what they called a rapid response protest to stand with Los Angeles.
The afternoon started peaceful with lots of homemade signs representing the cause of fighting against ICE.
Police arrived at the anti-ICE protest in downtown. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Man draws chalk on Pro-Ice side when tensions started to rise. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Both sides of the protest would meet in the middle of the street during red lights. Photo by Leah Burdick 
When the lights turned red, the protesters would stand on the cross walk. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Police had to defuse tension as they began to rise. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Protesters gathered in front of City Hall Photo by Leah Burdick 
A sign about how there are no illegal immigrants on stolen land. Photo by Leah Burdick 
A big stop ICE raid banner was held during the protest. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Anti-ICE protesters raised the Flag of Mexico. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Protesters outside City Hall to fight against ICE. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Protesters outside City Hall to fight against ICE. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Protesters see pro-ICE supporters arrive across the street. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Tampa bay student for a democratic society held a sign during the protest. Photo by Leah Burdick 
When the lights turned red, the protesters would stand on the cross walk. Photo by Leah Burdick 
Pro-ICE supporters at the protest in Downtown. Photo by Leah Burdick
Victoria Hinckley is apart of TampaBay Student for a Democratic Society and she said she saw the protest on social media.
Hinckley said she came out with a few other members to protest against ICE and the raids happening all across the country.
“I am standing with the community folks out there kicking ICE out of their neighborhoods when they see them attacking their neighbors, ripping families apart, and deporting innocent people,” she said
A Puerto Rican women said she has the privilege to be here and be a citizen which is a privilege others don’t have and she wants them to have the American dream.
“Enough is enough I cant sit back and do nothing as families are being torn apart,” she said.
More and more people started to join in on the protest including some opposers.
Everything remained peaceful, for the most part, as a standoff happened on opposite sides of the streets.
One side yelling “Say it loud and say it clear… Immigrants are welcome here!” and the other side shouting pro-Trump.
There were more supporters for the anti-ICE side as there was for the other, but that didn’t stop tension from brewing.
“We voted for Trump for the mass deportation of illegals that entered our country under the Biden regime,” said Francisco. “I am an immigrant and I came here illegally. Im Mexican-American and I wanted to come here to show many immigrants support Trump.”
Every time the lights turned red, the protest would stop on the crosswalks and chant to the cars waiting at the light. When this started, that was when tensions started to rise.
The closer and closer that both sides got to each other, the more aggressive the language was.
For the most part the anti-ICE side had their own “security” who was trying to keep everyone from disturbing traffic or getting violent with the Pro-ICE side.
When emotions increase over a topic like this, it was clear to be hard to stop both sides from interacting. When the lights turned red they would all meet in the streets and get in each other face.
There were times when the face to face yelling got to much, and there were some physical altercations. When this started to happen, local police showed up to calm everyone down.
The protest was never stopped by police and everyone continued to chant for what they believed in.
“Peace not hate. What makes America great!”
Leave a Reply
