Residents rally against ICE, for democracy

Honks, chanting and Bruce Springsteen’s recently released anti-ICE protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” filled the air in Coupeville on Friday afternoon.

Hundreds rallied peacefully at the intersection of Highway 20 and Main Street on Jan. 30, what became Whidbey’s share of nationwide protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. While the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed by federal immigration agents last month, largely motivated people to the streets, Whidbey residents demonstrated for a myriad of additional reasons.

Indivisible Whidbey, responsible for organizing the protest, specifically encouraged nurses to attend in scrubs in honor of Pretti, an ICU nurse, and several did. Some demonstrators displayed signs criticizing President Donald Trump; others’ signs expressed anger with his administration’s handling of the release of files related to financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Many advocated for democracy.

Whatever their reason for participating, demonstrators felt troubled by the current political climate but remained hopeful of the protest’s efficacy and unifying power.

“More than anything, I think this is about community building. I think that’s where it really all starts,” said Vivian Rogers Decker, a steering committee member for Indivisible Whidbey.

From her perch on the pedestrian bridge, Rogers Decker counted approximately 500 protesters in attendance about an hour into the event. She noted the turnout, particularly large for a Friday afternoon, is “indicative of how people are really scared, fed up (and) frustrated.”

A Coupeville resident, Rogers Decker founded the SPiN Cafe and currently oversees funding and legislation at the state level supporting students experiencing homelessness. Working for the state, she explained, informs her perspective on grassroots efforts like these, which she said spur “the greatest amount of change.”

Rogers Decker hopes the protest encourages people to stand their ground against ICE and help them realize they can do so peacefully, without feeding into provocation. Despite her sadness, she is optimistic about the difference organizing makes.

“I’m motivated, you know? I want change, and I want to do whatever I can to affect a positive change,” she said.

For Langley’s Deborah Koff-Chapin, contributing to change looks like keeping rhythm.

Koff-Chapin pounded on an Inuit drum whenever chants started up, encouraging those around her to get loud. She bought her drum, made of “contemporary” fabrics rather than skin, she explained, in 2006, and brings it to every protest she attends.

ICE’s actions in Minneapolis hit close to home for Koff-Chapin, whose nieces live in the city. She felt Friday’s protest important to partake in so as to “stand up now, as a country, for what’s right,” and enjoyed that it allowed her and others to connect with “more parts of our community.”

Oak Harbor resident Colleen Jones is “absolutely horrified” by ICE’s actions, what she described as a shredding of constitutional rights.

Pretti’s death moved Jones, whose sister has been a nurse for 40 years and currently works in Indiana. Accordingly, Jones’ sign read, “Nurses are the helpers Mister Rogers taught us to look for.”

Fred Rogers was a television personality best known for his children’s show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” He was famously quoted as saying, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

Jones spoke to nurses’ altruistic instincts, people who would not hesitate to help strangers in need. Helping others, she explained, is how the hurt inflicted by ICE can be healed.

“(I’m) in and out of tears constantly, mourning what’s going on with our country,” Jones said. “But we’re gonna win it, and it might take a while, and hopefully we can build it to be better for everyone and not just some of us.”