SAN DIEGO (CNS) - An "ICE Out of San Diego" protest is planned for Thursday outside the federal immigration agency's field office at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building.
The 10 a.m. event will come one day after a shooting incident at the Dallas field office of ICE in which a sniper killed one detainee and critically wounded two others, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The Dallas gunman reportedly killed himself after the Wednesday incident, and no law enforcement officers were reported injured.
Organizers of Thursday's planned protest in San Diego say they will "gather for a peaceful demonstration and march" -- but it will come amid heightened fears nationwide of politically motivated violence and just two weeks after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a college campus in Orem, Utah.
The San Diego Police Department could not immediately be reached for comment if extra security is planned for Thursday's demonstration.
According to a statement from organizers of the planned San Diego rally, "We join together in support of our communities and families who are under attack. The billionaires get tax breaks, we get kidnappings, cuts to healthcare, housing and education, and demand that this be stopped!"
The statement went on to say, "Concerned citizens will gather for a peaceful demonstration and march against the impact the Trump Administration policies have on our local communities, to stand up against the rise of authoritarianism, abuses of executive power and ongoing threats to our democracy that are real here in San Diego County. We demand healthcare, housing & justice for all."
Michele Cyr, an organizer of the planned San Diego event, said in a statement that she was protesting "because I'm outraged that masked, unidentified, armed men are randomly kidnapping our non-criminal neighbors who work jobs that most of us won't.
"ICE is terrorizing our neighbors and traumatizing families as they tear them apart trying to meet their quotas, grabbing them up as if they have no right to due process," Cyr's statement added. "People are frightened. Essential workers are hiding in their houses, which is drastically affecting the livelihood of their families and our economy."
Organizers said the event is sponsored by the Democratic Club of Carlsbad & Oceanside; Indivisible 49; SEIU 221, SEIU USWW; the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council; Universidad Popular; the Office of San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, SDEA; ACCE; CBWM; UC San Diego Labor Center; AFSC; Union Del Barrio and Detention Resistance.
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