Sobbing Minneapolis Protester Gets Comforting Hug From MS NOW Reporter

MS NOW reporter Alex Tabet offered some comfort to a Minneapolis protester who broke into tears while recounting the emotional toll the ICE operation is having in her city.

Tabet reported from a federal building in the Twin Cities that was surrounded by citizens protesting the presence of ICE and the killing of Minneapolis mother Renee Good on Wednesday that was captured on video. The Trump administration has defended the ICE officer as acting in self-defense.

One of the protesters, who identified herself as a therapist in the area, could be heard admonishing ICE agents to stop wearing masks.

Tabet asked her about the impact ICE presence is having on her community.

“I do crisis management, and I get suicidal clients, like clients who end up feeling suicidal, and doctors refer them to me. And it’s just been — it’s just been overwhelming to the community,” she said through tears. “And people want to talk about the politics as therapists are trained to not talk about the politics. And it’s just been very exhausting for me to work, do my job when there’s so much is going on in the community.”

Tabet asked the distressed woman, “Hug?”

“Hug? Yes,” the woman said, as the two embraced.

“I feel for them,” she said, gesturing toward the ICE agents. “So many officers will say they don’t want to be here. Makes sense, and they lack the training. An officer saying that they need more training. Other officers said, ‘I don’t know what else could I have done? And I’m like, I can hear that thought. Can we entertain that thought? You said, you don’t know what you could have done. Can we open a dialog when there is a situation, when something is escalating, how can we communicate fast with each other?'”

She added, “This all can be avoided.”

Tabet addressed anchor Chris Jansing saying, “Obviously a community very much on edge here in the Twin Cities.”

“Yeah, you can obviously hear the emotion and see it in the numbers of people who have come out over the last couple of days,” Jansing said.

Watch the clip above via MS NOW.