Dem Sen. Smith on Church Protest: Almost Every Protest, ‘Especially in Minneapolis and St. Paul’, Is Peaceful

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Arena,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) responded to a question on people barging into a church in St. Paul by saying that “almost all of the protests and demonstrations that we’ve seen in Minnesota, and especially in Minneapolis and St. Paul, have been peaceful, have been nonviolent, and, of course, that is the right response.”

Host Kasie Hunt asked, “Senator, yesterday we saw a group of protesters go into the city’s church to protest a pastor that they believe is an ICE agent. That has, of course, generated considerable criticism from those who say this was a desecration of a place of worship. Would you urge protesters to do more of what we’re seeing here, or do you think that is counterproductive for what they’re trying to achieve?”

Smith responded, “So, almost all of the protests and demonstrations that we’ve seen in Minnesota, and especially in Minneapolis and St. Paul, have been peaceful, have been nonviolent, and, of course, that is the right response. What all of our messages have been is, basically, don’t take the bait, don’t fuel the president’s narrative, don’t fuel Donald Trump’s narrative that this is a dangerous place, let’s show them how we stand up for each other and stand up for our neighbors. And that’s what makes me so proud of Minnesota right now, people coming out of their homes to stand up for folks that are literally being drug out of their cars. It’s really incredible to see that. And it makes me really proud. And we’re — in my state right now, there are people who are afraid to go to the grocery store — I’m talking about folks that are here legally, they’re not undocumented people — they’re afraid to go to the grocery store because they’ve heard so many stories about folks getting targeted, profiled by ICE, simply because they have an accent or because of the color of their skin. And people aren’t just guessing this. This is what the ICE agents are telling them, I’m talking to you because you have an accent, and the response that Minnesota is bringing to this is, hell no, that is not who we are, we’re going to stand up to this, and really standing strong.”

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