About 35 people gathered at Gainesville’s Albert “Ray” Massey Park at noon Sunday to protest U.S. military action in Venezuela and Immigration and Customs Enforcement across the country.
Peoples Progressive Agenda, a Gainesville-based group that describes itself as non-partisan, organized the protest. The event's purpose was to call for no foreign invasions and no invasion of U.S. cities by ICE, according to a description on the group’s Facebook page.
Demonstrators said their concerns were fueled by recent national events, including a fatal shooting involving an ICE officer earlier this week in Minnesota and a Jan. 3 U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Hundreds of other protests across Florida and the country took place this weekend, including several in Gainesville.
Nearly half a million Venezuelans live in Florida alone, many of whom had their visas revoked in the past year, according to the Pew Research Center.
As protesters held signs along the roadway, dozens of passing drivers honked and waved in support, while others shouted objections from their cars at stoplights.
Cindy Gordon, a member of People’s Progressive Agenda who helped organize the event, criticized ICE enforcement practices and said public protest is necessary to stop what she described as harmful government action.
“We have a, I hate to call him president, who’s unable to be reined in by laws that other public servants have just recognized as a matter of course,” Gordon said.
Gordon said demonstrations like Sunday’s are meant to raise awareness and could become a regular occurrence.
“These demonstrations popping up in communities embolden regular citizens,” she said. “They let everyone know that this is not the, quote, ‘radical left.’ These are your neighbors, co-workers, friends, relatives who are out here opposing this stuff.”
Renee Chechik, who also attended an ICE protest Saturday at the Oaks Mall, said she was disappointed by the small turnout at Massey Park and believes more people need to participate nationwide.
Brittany Monty and Evan Murray said they learned about the protest through Murray’s doctor and felt compelled to attend after the Minnesota shooting.
Murray held a sign reading, “I think I’ll try defying tyranny.”
Monty said she opposes what she described as the mistreatment of people targeted by ICE.
“I understand they’re here illegally, but that doesn’t mean they deserve the treatment that they have,” she said.
Fran Towk, who said this was her third protest of the week, said fear has turned into exhaustion for many demonstrators.
“What has at one point been scary is now beyond frightening,” Towk said. “We’re just tired of seeing how people in this country are being treated.”
Contact Alexa Ryan at aryan@alligator.org. Follow her on X @AlexaRyan_.
Alexa is a second-year journalism and international studies students serving as the Fall 2025 Criminal Justice beat reporter. She previously served as a copy editor. She spends her free time running, traveling, having movie nights and going on random side quests with friends.
