Organizers distributed hand-warmers as protesters chanted “ICE out,” waved American flags and carried signs calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave Minneapolis.
The march took place amid an immigration crackdown that has drawn national attention and sharp criticism from local officials and community groups.
“Today is the coldest day of the entire year in Minnesota, and we have the biggest protest to date happening,” said Amal Ahmed, 30, as demonstrators gathered downtown and marched toward the Target Center arena on Friday afternoon.
Temperatures in Minneapolis remained below zero degrees Fahrenheit throughout the day, with a high of minus 9, a low of minus 17 and wind chill values dropping to minus 35, according to the National Weather Service.
Earlier on Friday, video posted on social media showed thousands of protesters forming a picket line outside Minneapolis airport that stretched the length of the terminal for departing flights.
That morning demonstration served as a precursor to a statewide “ICE Out” day of protest planned for the afternoon.
Throughout the week, clergy members, immigrant advocates and labor unions urged residents to support the protest and refrain from shopping or attending school or work on Friday.
Meanwhile, KARE, NBC’s affiliate in Minneapolis, aired footage showing airport demonstrators being zip-tied and loaded onto yellow school buses by police officers.
Organizers told KARE that about 100 people were detained during the airport protest.
Airport officials said law enforcement intervened after the protesters’ “permitted activity went beyond the agreed-upon terms,” according to the station.
Separately, some businesses across the Twin Cities closed on Friday, and several business owners had previously told NBC News they planned to attend the rally.
Mati Hanson, 31, said she joined the protest because she felt she could safely do so as a white person.
“A lot of people aren’t leaving their houses … Those are the people I want to support, since they can’t be here,” she said.
In a related development, Yubi Hassan, 24, who immigrated to the United States from Somalia as a teenager, handed out hot tea to protesters at The Commons.
His friend stood nearby holding a sign that read “Free Somali tea.”
“We realized it’s negative 20 degrees out today, and anybody would appreciate something warm,” said Hassan, who owns a local tea company.
He said participating in the protest was important despite his fears.
“We have seen this happen before, right? It always starts with one group of people, until it spreads to everybody,” he said.
“Today is us, tomorrow it might be somebody else.”
As night fell, the demonstration proceeded as planned to a rally at the Target Center arena, where thousands again gathered.
Banners reading “Stop kidnapping our neighbors” and “No more masked militia” were displayed throughout the city-owned venue.
Several local activists and religious leaders addressed the crowd.
“Today, we are not gathering out of fear. We gathered out of love for our neighbors, for our children and for our future,” said activist Imam Youssef Abdullah.
“When the violence escalated, we did not turn away. We showed up, we shared food, we marched together.”
The Trump administration has deployed more than 3,000 federal immigration personnel to Minneapolis since December under an initiative known as Operation Metro Surge.
Over the past six weeks, officers have apprehended more than 3,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement to NBC News on Thursday evening, a DHS spokesperson criticized the protests.
“The fact that those groups want to shut down Minnesota’s economy, which provides law-abiding American citizens an honest living, to fight for illegal alien murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, drug dealers, and terrorists says everything you need to know,” the spokesperson said.
Operation Metro Surge followed the viral spread of a YouTube video by right-wing influencer Nick Shirley alleging widespread fraud at child care centers owned by Somali immigrants.
The video renewed attention on a long-running Justice Department investigation into an alleged $250 million fraud scheme in Minnesota involving some members of the state’s Somali community.
At Friday’s protest, Abdi Hassan, 19, a Somali American who has lived in the United States since he was 2, said friends had recently been racially profiled by ICE.
He said he carries identification at all times out of fear of being detained.
“Or I might just be snatched up for no reason … it’s been scary lately. It’s terrifying,” he said.
The immigration operation has drawn fierce criticism from some residents and local officials, including Democratic Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
This week, the Justice Department issued subpoenas to Walz, Frey and other state leaders as part of an investigation into whether they conspired to impede immigration enforcement.
Tensions have escalated since the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, an unarmed U.S. citizen, by ICE officer Jonathan Ross, whom federal officials say acted in self-defense.
On Thursday, Homeland Security and FBI agents arrested three protesters linked to a demonstration that disrupted Sunday services at a church in St. Paul.
That same day, reports emerged that immigration authorities had apprehended four children in recent weeks, including a 5-year-old boy.
Images of the child, Liam Conejo Ramos, appeared on signs carried by protesters in downtown Minneapolis on Friday.
One sign read “Not bait.”
Officials from Ramos’ school district accused federal authorities of using the child to lure his parents into arrest, an allegation DHS denied.
DHS said it made “multiple attempts” to have the boy’s mother take custody of him, but she refused.
“It’s super heartbreaking to know that even a 5-year-old can be placed in detention centers,” Ahmed said.
“Nobody is safe.”
Border Patrol and ICE officials said at a news conference on Friday that the boy’s father fled on foot during an attempted arrest and left the child behind.
They said the father and son have since been reunited at a detention facility in Texas.
“To the federal government, look at this gathering here. I know you’re watching,” Abdullah said.
“Take good pictures. Your division did not work. You division failed. Your cruelty has been exposed.”