OKLAHOMA CITY – Hundreds of protesters lined Oklahoma City Boulevard at Scissortail Park Sunday afternoon to voice their anger over the deadly recent actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis and what they see as increasingly violent immigration actions here at home.
Protesters and activists lined up for blocks along the boulevard chanting anti-ICE slogans and sentiments, playing music on car stereos and Bluetooth speakers, and encouraging passing drivers to honk their car horns in approval.
The resulting cacophony lasted for hours Sunday afternoon as the protesters saw and heard what they believe was overwhelming support for their message, with only minimal community pushback.
“I didn’t see any counter-protesting,” Nina Lawrence, community organizer for local activism group Indivisible OKC, and one of the organizers for Sunday’s event, told OKC Free Press as protesters began to disperse after 2pm. “When we were building this up and making some posts online, I saw some people that were disgruntled and were not supportive of this movement and of this protest, but no one counter-protesting today.”
Authorities reported no arrests and no concerns of safety for protesters or motorists on OKC Boulevard, and the only negative tensions reported were vulgar gestures by some drivers.
“We’ve seen a few people drive by and flip us off, but that’s it,” said Fernando Baquera, a member of OKC’s Community Response Network. “There was an SUV that flipped us off flying the US flag, but we love the US flag, so that’s not offensive to us.”
This protest joins dozens of others across the nation in response to the January 6th killing of Renne Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota by ICE officer Jonathon Ross, who fired three shots at the unarmed Good, striking and killing her behind the wheel of her SUV.
Officials including President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (who oversees ICE operations) have claimed that Good rammed, or was attempting to ram, Ross with her vehicle.
Analysts and officials including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have disputed those claims, stating that multiple cellphone videos – including one filmed by Ross himself – show that the officer was in no immediate danger from Good’s vehicle as she attempted to drive following a separate officer’s attempt to open her driver’s side door.
Good’s killing set off a wave of protest activity in Minneapolis and beyond aimed at condemning ICE operations and other anti-immigrant violence and sentiments across the country, a concern that protesters Sunday said has been increasing in Oklahoma City as well.
“We’ve noticed in the last few weeks that they have became more violent,” said Baquera, citing reports made to the Community Response Network by city residents and families of people detained by ICE. “A lot more families are reporting that their loved one is bruised up or beat up after being picked up by ICE.”
Baquera pointed to an ICE operation reportedly carried out Wednesday morning near SW Grand Blvd. and S. Pennsylvania Ave., with a civilian-shot video shared widely on social media showing multiple ICE vehicles and officers blocking a neighborhood street.
“This past Wednesday, they arrested a dad taking his 17 year-old son to school at SW 36th and Indiana,” he said. “The son, a US citizen, was still arrested. Some family had to pick him up from the ICE facility later, and his dad still hasn’t been released.”
With reports of large-scale raids and increasingly aggressive ICE activity making headlines in places like Chicago and Portland throughout 2025, reports of immigration enforcement in Oklahoma have so far been calmer and less antagonistic toward state agencies, with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and small town police empowered to assist with immigration operations.
But OKC-based activists said Sunday that they aren’t waiting until that kind of widespread or aggressive activity increases in our city to speak out against it.
“I think it’s all about visibility,” Lawrence told Free Press in between bullhorn announcements to wind down the day’s protest. “Whether or not the activity has increased here doesn’t change the fact that it needs to stop. The violence needs to stop.”
Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
