Rivertown Residents Join Nationwide Protests Against ICE Shootings
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By Barrett Seaman–
The ripple effect of rage and dismay at the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis reached the rivertowns, as elsewhere in the country. Rallies held nationwide over the weekend included ones in several local communities, including Tarrytown, where, despite a steady rain, more than 100 gathered at Christ Church San Marcos on South Broadway.
The rally was organized by Tarrytown Trustee and Democratic congressional candidate Effie Phillips Staley, Christ Church Rector Bill Baker and Pleasantville Community Synagogue Rabbi Shoshana Leis. With hand-held candles, and songs reminiscent of 1960s era protests (“We Shall Overcome,” “This Little Light of Mine”), the rally projected a balance of peaceful resistance on the one hand and at the other anger at the federal government.
Reverend Baker stressed the importance of welcoming as a principle of a civil society. “Sacred scriptures across many traditions again and again command us to welcome the foreigner,” he said. “Hospitality is inseparable from justice.”
A more defiant Phillips Staley accused the government of trying “to kill [Renee Good’s] memory moments after they finished killing her.”
The most prominent speaker was State Senate Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, who declared “Enough is enough.” She drew the evening’s loudest applause when she addressed the Trump administration’s reaction to the killing: “You’re not going to re-write history while we watch this and tell us that’s not what we saw.”
“Shoot first and smear later,” echoed Phillips Staley.
The time has come, said Stewart Cousins, to emulate the non-violent movement espoused by Martin Luther King Jr. “If we don’t do this right, we could actually be going back,” she warned.” I’m not going back”.
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