Protestors rally again against ICE in Idaho Falls — but this time get hit by tomatoes
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IDAHO FALLS — Over 300 people gathered on Broadway Bridge Saturday afternoon to again protest the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the country.
While social media posts suggested counterprotester would be present, few actually showed up. Although several protestors said they had been hit with tomatoes from a black truck driving by.
“Usually when there’s (traffic) going through, it’s just honks, thumbs down. If someone’s not liking it, they kind of just drive past,” said Mia Atkinson, a protester who said she was hit by a tomato and still had seeds and red juice on her jacket.
“And all of a sudden, this truck — he’s going, definitely much faster than the speed limit — he chucks something out of his car and just totally hits me in the chest with a tomato,” she said.
“It definitely upset me a little bit, because it did hurt,” Atkinson continued. “Rather than making their own protests or having mature conversations, they’re throwing food at people. It kind of ticked me off a little bit, but it doesn’t discourage me from still wanting to talk about these things.”
Michael Armstrong, a counterprotester who did show up, said he regularly does so. He said he has been using his “Go Trump” sign since 2015.
“These people have a point of view — so do I,” Armstrong said.
Other protestors said Armstrong usually carries a rifle when attending. Armstrong confirmed he does usually bring a loaded AR-15 while attending protests, though he said he did not do so Saturday because he didn’t know the protest was occurring.
Chance Marshall, an organizer for Saturday’s “ICE Out” rally, has been involved with organizing previous protests in Idaho Falls. He said they tend not to get counterprotesters.
“They make a lot of noise online, but we believe that might be because they’re trying to confuse people,” Marshall said. “There’s no real organizing behind it like what we have. We’re always cautious, and we always make preparations in case there are, to prepare for de-escalation and to resolve conflicts.”
Aside from tomatoes being thrown, there were no known incidents at the protest.
