Minnesota Immigration Rally – My Experience and Photos
April 9th, 2006 by 
Kevin
Attending the immigration today, which I had announced earlier, and it was a very interesting experience. This was my first time attending a rally for a cause I didn’t believe in, and it was definitely a learning experience in how to be a photographer at events like this. Andy was apparently there as well and has podcasted his initial thoughts (supposedly will have video up later). Never actually saw him there, perhaps because while he didn’t mingle with the crowd, not knowing any better, I did. And short of one minor incident, it went well.
Pictures (and relevant commentary) are in the extended entry for those of you who are interested and have sufficiently fast connections to tolerate the sizeable number of them. Most of the things I mention below are in the photographs.
The crowd was much larger than I expected. Andy apparently heard 50000. I heard organizers announce both 30000 and 40000. Personally I think 30K is the more accurate figure. It was a diverse mix of people. Although, most were middle-aged hispanics, some aging hipsters and the occasional group of teens (who from my brief experiences with them left me with the impression of them being completely clueless).
Flags were all over the place. It appears the organizers of this rally have learned from the previous immigration rallies because probably 50% of the flags I saw were US flags. The other 50% were a mix of all of South/Central America. Most of them were Mexican, El Salvadore, Guatemala, and Honduras. For the most part marchers were respectful of the US Flag. Although there were a few instances of foreign flags be hoisted above the US flag, or the US flag being altered (mostly rearranging the stars to create a peace symbol).
If this was a rally to convince non-spanish speaking people that immigration is okay, they failed horribly. All the chants were in spanish. Most of the signs were and each speech was broadcast in both broken-english and spanish (presumably non-broken). It occasionally got difficult to understand what the speaker was ranting about. Combine that with what was either an incredibly poor PA system, or else each speaker was trying to eat their microphone.
The speeches, what I could understand anyway, were essentially the same. Illegals deserve equal rights because…well, as it was stated, they “have followed the law their whole life. Only thing we’re guilty of is an administrative fault.” Yup, breaking our immigration laws is just a clerical error on par with them misfiling a form at the DMV.
Surprisingly, the crowd seemed just as opposed to the McCain-Kennedy bill as I am. I saw signs criticizing it, and every conversation I had with people about it, showed they had a very negative view of it. Apparently even THAT piece of shit bill doesn’t hand over enough of the country to them. They want more.
And what protest march wouldn’t be complete without the usual crazies. I saw communists and worker-party shirts. Che was a popular figurehead. More than once I had someone try to get me to subscribe to a socialist newspaper. MECHA made an appearance. The three counter-protesters that showed up were immediatly mobbed by irate marchers. Shouting match ensued, no violence but definite intimidation tactics going on. While attempting to photograph someone flying a flag from Guatemala over the US flag, I did have someone try to knock my camera out of my hands (neck straps are good!).
Otherwise the crowd was well-behaved, although it did mostly consist of family groups. March was fairly organized. They had their own security to help keep people in line. At one point I even tried to climb the steps of the capital so I could get a shot of the entire crowd, and was stopped by security for the march. I was told we’re not allowed on the capital steps during the march. There was some irony there that made me giggle.
For more, look through the photos in the extended entry where I have further commentary.
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Click on photos for larger popups
| Arrived 2:30 pm at St. Paul’s Cathedral to find…
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| and no small number of people…
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| An Irish Flag?…
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| Ok one of us is confused about where we are.
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| Peru and Ecuador aren’t about to be left out…
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| The obligatory “free trade” is evil sign.
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| The sign says “Build Bridges Not Walls” presumably to allow illegal aliens to cross the Rio Grande easier.
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| I’m not entirely certain what this is supposed to be. But what would a rally be without a effigy of….well, whatever that is.
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| Apparently the creators of these signs are unable to differentiate between illegal and legal.
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| And for some reason the WWE has sent a contingent to the rally.
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| The crowd gets ready to march. A surprising number of American flags though. Good to see.
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| yeah…
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| right…
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| Heh, our first “impeach Bush” sign! Now it’s a REAL rally!
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| Here they come…with dignity I guess.
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| Linked arms? Solidarity I guess.
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| Father gets a text message from God, “Get back to work my son”
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| Apparently “break the law” is the answer he’s looking for.
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| I have no idea. I just heard bongo drums and turned around to human pheasants dancing around the street.
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| Heh, they were fun to watch.
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| Anyone that can tell me what these are and why they are related to immigration, gets a cookie.
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| Hehe, ok this one made me laugh.
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| A general idea of the mix of flags…
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| Apparently Christ never had a green card…
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| This might be carrying “Minnesota Nice” too far.
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| Then this legislation probably doesn’t affect you.
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| This sign below him reads “FIRE – Foundation for Immigration Resources and Education”. I still have no idea what he’s supposed to be.
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| I tried all day to get a good shot of this one…this is the best I could do. It read “Soc Sec Card $$1000000000s courtesy of undocumented workers”. Apparently illegal is a word they can’t say.
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| Better call the UN, human right are being violated!
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| Well no…but their actions can be.
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| Everyone sing now!! “We are the people…”
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| These signs were everywhere.
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| As were these.
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| Once again there is a failure to distinquish between legal and illegal.
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| I’ve been swept along by the rally…to the capital I go.
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| Apparently Don Corleone has his fingers in illegal immigration as well…
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| Yeah, but you forgot to empty the trash can!!
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| We’re about 2 minutes short of a group hug here.
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| Heh, American flag…now get your finger out of your nose.
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| Not entirely certain what I should be thinking here.
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| What rally is complete without
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| The Green Party shows their face.
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| This guy instantly posed for me. To be honest, I took my sweet time taking the photo just to see how long he’s stand still.
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| Wow…the lawn is full and the whole rally hasn’t even arrived.
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| Three counter protesters show up and are instantly confronted by marchers.
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| But their actions can be.
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| The confrontation with the counter-protesters grows. I couldn’t get close. I could occasionally see waving hands and heard LOTS of screaming.
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| One of the counter protesters argues with a marcher
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| Meanwhile the rally begins…the worst PA system on the planet crackles to life.
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| And here’s the counter-protest sign that apparently pissed people off.
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| You just don’t feel the need to follow our laws. It’s a love-hate relationship.
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| Hmmm, I was trying to show the variety of flags. Didn’t come out real well, but about half are US flags.
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| The human pheasants regroup…
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| And apparently immigrants grow on trees. And you thought we had a problem before! This will be worse than Dutch Elm Disease! Greenpeace isn’t gonna like the deforestation program that’s sure to follow.
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| This news chopper hovered above the rally all day. And the crowd went absolutely nuts every time it passed by.
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| This must be part of the “Give War A Chance” program?
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| You love America as much as I do, just not it’s laws, or public opinion, or culture, or traditions, or….
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| Guatemala’s flag hoisted above the US flag
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| Had no idea who Saavedra was, but he has lots of supporters here. Turns out he’s a immigration activist.
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| Ecuador’s flag flies over the US flag. It was at this point I think someone realized I wasn’t a “friendly” and tried to knock my camera from my hands.
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| The rally begins to disperse two hours after it begins
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| The exodus begins…I set up camp for more interesting signs.
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| You’d think with all that money he could have bought a dictionary
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| Now what rally is complete without Che??
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| Surely most people that could read this are already on your side?
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| These aging hipsters were involved in some deep echo-chambering on the issues
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| This guy made me laugh. His hat actually has horns coming out of it.
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| Che-man checks out a girl with a sign reading “I Love An Immigrant”…apparently hoping it’s him.
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| The US flag flies above the Guatemala flag for once
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| Miss “I Love An Immigrant” and her friend were doing some weird twirling/skipping/bouncing dance. I utterly failed to catch them in mid-air.
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| Just what any good rally needs…socialist propaganda
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| Trotsky…the cornerstone of any good progressive’s library.
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| Here things got a little weird. After the end they were playing latino music…then these guys grabbed the mike. Apparently they were pissed that the American Indian Movement wasn’t allowed to speak today.
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| A nearby group of rally organizers went into a tizzy as the Indian Movement took over the stage. They eventually decided everyone was leaving anyway so let them talk.
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| Chief Humming Mountain (or something) is waving a wing at us and telling us they are the only legitimate residents but they welcome us anyway.
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| St. Paul’s finest holds back the hordes.
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| Ahhhh, I knew they had to be here somewhere! MECHA shows their ugly face. These rallies must be ripe for recruitment into MECHA…which is bad for the United States.
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| Che isn’t getting left out…
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| The only transportation for the immigrant on the run.
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| I didn’t catch the upside down flag until just now…
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| Yeah….what about her?
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| To break more laws??
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| The capital has finally emptied out 2.5 hours after the rally officially began.
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| After the rally I was feeling a little moody…fortunately I walked by this guy who reminded me that Jesus loves me and died for my sins so I should repent and blah blah blah blah blah blah
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Well…that’s all she wrote. If you were at the rally and have pictures of your own, let me know and I’ll put up a link to you.
Update : It has been pointed out that I incorrectly identified one of the flags. It was the third photo and I had incorrectly labeled it a Mexican flag instead of the flag of Ireland. The basic difference being the emblem, which I did notice at the time however, I figured the person had altered the flag for some unknown reason. It has also been pointed out that I should have noticed the person holding it is very white. I’m sorry, but I generally don’t take people’s skin color into account as it’s generally not important.
I have corrected the error and apologize for the error. But as has also been pointed out it was an easy error to make.
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Posted in Ecker Exploits, Immigration, Local Events | 
21 Comments »
April 10th, 2006 at 12:44 am
Illegals Insult The American Flag Again
Kevin from Eckernet attended the illegal immigration rally in Minnesota yesterday and has lots of pics. Here are a couple…
April 10th, 2006 at 5:45 am
Illegal Alien/Immigration Rally – Photos
I took a couple of pictures yesterday.
Kevin has a bunch of very good ones from in the crowd.
…
April 10th, 2006 at 7:55 am
Illegals On The March Again
You know, I think I see a way out of this illegal immigration policy. We could tell them we’re holding a rally at the Mexican border, and then trick them to cross. lol
Seriously, though, this is just getting dumber and dumber everyday, and it seems li
April 10th, 2006 at 10:07 am
Out. Of. The. Park.
Mark Steyn, illegal immigration, READ IT.
UP
BTW, pick any of the events planned an…
April 10th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Note To Immigration Protesters
Thanks. Y’all are going to re-unite the GOP yet. (Via Kevin “Eckernet” Ecker….
April 10th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Note To Immigration Protesters
Thanks. Y’all are going to re-unite the GOP yet. (Via Kevin “Eckernet” Ecker….
April 10th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
MN Immigration Rally On Scene Report
Plenty of images and the full report here at EckerNet.The crowd was much larger than I expected. Andy apparently heard 50000. I heard organizers announce both 30000 and 40000. Personally I think 30K is the more accurate figure. Flags were
April 10th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
The Immigration Chip
The Immigrant Rights Rally planned for this afternoon in Washington by the “Organizers of the National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice — or La Marcha , as some volunteers are calling it — said it could draw as many as 180,000 people to the Mall a…
April 10th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
“Bloody pheasant!”
“Oh, what a give-away. Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That’s what I’m on about. Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn’t you?”
April 10th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
Birds of a feather flock in St. Paul
Kevin Ecker of Eckernet infiltrated the St. Paul rally for illegal immigrants on Sunday and has an interesting report with photos. Apparently a group from Pheasants Forev…
April 10th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
Jorge Saavedra is running for Sabo’s seat.
April 10th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
Illegal Immigrants: Ask Not What Our Country Can Do For You
I’ve always been of the opinion that America needs immigrants. America was built of the sweat and dreams of people who left their homelands in search of a better life. In a way, I’m sympathetic to someone who will do…
April 11th, 2006 at 1:06 am
Thanks Rew, makes more sense now.
April 11th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
THESE PEOPLE NEED BLOGS
Kevin of Eckernet has a photo-rich review of a recent Minnesota immigration rally. Say, is that El Asso Wipo?…
April 19th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
I think it is hilarious how ignorant you are about American culture and what that actually means, considering how holier than thou you are about “the law.” What about sociocultural facts of American existance like capitalism and all of the Americans who HIRE illegal immigrants? Try placing blame where blame belongs. Who would not try and make a better life for their families, even if it means breaking the law? Luckily for you you priveledged person, you don’t have to bother worrying about such a fate but rather use an “illegal” discourse to mask racism. God bless America.
April 19th, 2006 at 10:23 pm
I see and what part of American culture applauds law-breaking? Whil I doubt I’m ignorant, you might be delusional though if you think there is some cultural reason to allow people to openly break our laws. Tell you what, rather than use cliched lines, put together a real argument next time.
And you’ll notice I intentionally don’t try to force my viewpoint here. Simply reporting what I saw. Your knee-jerk reaction reveals you.
And now that you mention it, yes part of the problem is the number of employers that openly employ illegal immigrants. In my opinion they should be subject to an exponential fine.
Oh and call me a racist. Let’s not deal with the actual issues. Just stick a ugly label on me and consider your job done. Sorry missy but racism is hardly the issue here, especially when the illegals are being exploited just as bad as anyone else.
January 16th, 2007 at 11:16 am
i agree
February 3rd, 2007 at 11:12 pm
I do have to say that it is ok to support what you believe in, however i dont understand what is the purpose of making fun of these mexican people and their culture. They work hard for their family members and for those back home. I also have to say whoever did this must be a big big cock sucker, unfounately we still have white trash people in the nation. You rednecks don’t do any good to a country of freedom. And no matter what you do, US the Latinos will soon become the majority in this country
February 4th, 2007 at 12:35 am
Find me one place I actually made fun of the Mexicans and their culture.
And I have no problem with them coming here, as long as they do it LEGALLY. You see racism in a place where it doesn’t exist. My problem is not with their culture, but with their illegal actions.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:25 am
why do illegal immigrants want the government to let them have the same rights as us and be able to work and get a good job, while they riot,insult us,and make America dirty?besides, they are here illegal anyways…..and most of all rape us really hard.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:29 am
They took our jobs!
get these mexies outta american soil!unless they have a green card, which they probably cant afford(i hate illegal immigrants)