More than 250 demonstrators, clad in hats and scarves, gathered at the Park Street MBTA Station Saturday evening in protest of ICE and the recent shooting of Minnesota Intensive Care Unit nurse Alex Pretti. The crowd braved the 13 degree weather, staying tightly packed as organizers passed out hand warmers.

The demonstration — which was announced on social media just three hours before it began — was a joint effort between the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the 50501 Movement, the Boston Democratic Socialists of America , and other local activist groups. Pedestrians trickled in throughout the impromptu event as larger swarms exited the T station.

Boston was among dozens of other cities nationwide to host the sudden protests calling for the permanent abolition of ICE. Pretti was shot and killed by an ICE agent early Saturday morning in Minneapolis while protesting the killing of Renee Good, which occurred less than three weeks prior. These killings are just the latest in a massive increase in arrests and violence involving federal agents over the past year under the Trump administration. 

“We believe that ICE is not a legitimate organization,” Manny Vega, a spokesperson for the Boston Democratic Socialists of America, said in an interview with The Beacon. “We need to ban ICE, not just here in Boston or in Minneapolis, but nationally,” he said.

Vega said that small, grassroots demonstrations are vital in pushing back against ICE. He expressed his distrust in major political parties and does not expect elected Democrats to stand up to ICE. 

“We can’t necessarily ask for politicians to [ban ICE],” he said. “So the thing that we’re calling for is mass action. Things like strikes, organizing students, workers, and other people together.” 

This kind of mass action has especially been seen in Minnesota. Hundreds of small businesses across Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minn. shut down on Friday in protest of ICE, joining the widespread demonstrations across the state. 

As the crowd formed, speeches from local political activists commenced, including Massachusetts 50501 Movement ambassador Bryan Winter and Massachusetts senate candidate Joe Tache. Winter, a U.S. veteran, vigorously applauded protesters nationwide for their presence despite the cold temperatures. He continued, criticizing the violent measures being taken by the Trump administration, calling ICE agents “untrained goons with poor weapon discipline.”

Tache’s speech, which elicited fierce, continuous cheers from the passionate crowd, began with what he said was his first political memory: the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. As Tache listed additional victims of police violence, the crowd cried, “shame!” in reference to their killers. Tache compared Martin’s death to the killings of Good and Pretti, saying, “it’s important for us to make that connection between ICE terror and police terror.”

“We need to build a movement to transform our entire society…where racism is treated as the sickness that it is and where racism is rooted out of every institution in our societies,” Tache said.

Tache explained that he has a deep frustration in how politicians on both sides of the aisle have responded to the respective incidents. 

“There are a lot of politicians who make promises if they get elected,” Tache said in an interview with The Beacon. “The truth is that all meaningful change in this country’s history has happened through the collective action of the people.” 

Tache gave significant weight to the historical moment America is currently facing, comparing it to the civil rights and labor movements.  

“Any of the rights that we’ve won, it hasn’t just [happened] because one or a handful of people get elected to the office. It’s because regular, everyday people get involved to fight for change,” he said. 

After the speeches concluded, demonstrators marched into Downtown Crossing on Winter Street, chanting, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here” as cars drove by honking in support. With no counterprotesters, police presence was minimal for the peaceful demonstration. The crowd marched to City Hall where the event concluded.

Maggie Beiser, a local who attended the protest, hoped that this protest would let “people see that we’re out here together, and people see that there’s rage throughout the country.”

“I am furious. I am enraged,” she said. “This felt like a way to process that with other people who felt similarly.”