Several local Democratic organizations collaborated to hold a peaceful protest to “DE-ICE Nassau County,” gathering at locations along Sunrise Highway from Valley Stream to Massapequa.
“If you’ve ever thought of what you would do in the 1930s in Germany, do it now, because we’re faced with the end of the rule of law in the United States,” said protester Jerry Fitzgerald, a 77-year-old retiree from Wantagh.
Dave Denenberg, a 60-year-old former county legislator from Merrick, helped organize the protest at Merrick Station.
“The Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club felt the need to show that there are a lot of people in Nassau County who don’t like the impingement on liberties that the Trump administration represents,” Denenberg said.
Their rally inspired similar De-ICE efforts on the North Shore.
In response, the conservative social media group Setauket Patriots organized a counterprotest in support of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After meeting at the Bellmore station, members drove past several DE-ICE protest sites in a caravan of cars.
“Seventy-seven million people voted for this,” a representative of Setauket Patriots said in a statement to the Long Island Press. “Keep the deportations going.”
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Police were present at multiple locations, including the Merrick station protest, as the caravan drove by. In videos from the scene, whistles can be heard.
Protesters distributed whistle kits intended to alert neighbors to ICE activity or arrests.
Joy Fields, 47, who was protesting in support of the DE-ICE effort, runs a business called Good Trouble that sells umbrellas featuring protest slogans. She handed out kits that included whistles and a bilingual zine in English and Spanish explaining how to use them to warn of ICE presence, along with cards outlining legal rights and advice for those questioned by ICE.
“None of the content is illegal,” Fields said. “It’s all 100% legal and gives people options for how to stay safe.”
