After masked federal agents were active around Riverhead Friday, residents gathered for an “ICE Out” vigil, protest and march downtown this weekend — followed by a silent show of love and support Monday morning for the community’s children outside a school near where agents operated Friday.
About 50 people rallied outside Riverhead Town Hall Saturday morning, then lined up on Roanoke Avenue before marching around downtown, carrying signs and chanting “ICE out now.”
On Friday, masked agents were seen in various locations around town, including on the street outside the Riverhead Middle School. Several unmarked cars stopped a vehicle on Osborn Avenue, near Harrison Avenue, shortly after 7 a.m.
A little while later, agents pursued a man on foot, chasing him across the busy West Main Street/Court Street/Center Drive intersection, before tackling him and taking him away in an SUV. Another arrest was witnessed and recorded by a monitor later that morning.
The protest, along with a candlelight vigil Friday night outside Town Hall, were planned before the incidents on Friday.
On Monday morning, in response to what took place near the schools Friday, several people stood outside Pulaski Street Intermediate School, around the corner from the middle school, wearing large red hearts pinned to their coats.
It was a show of “community support of students who may feel unsafe after what happened Friday with ICE around the schools,” said organizer Kerry Flanagan.
“We stood in silence and didn’t talk or engage with anyone and just wore red hearts pinned to our jackets as a symbol of love and safety,” she said.
The Riverhead school district is 66% Latino, according to New York State Education Department data.
“We felt a swift reaction to Friday’s events was important for this Monday morning.”
RiverheadLOCAL video and photos by Emil Breitenbach Jr.
(Vigil photos by Denise Civiletti)
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