"We said it once, we said it twice, No business with ICE!"
At the end of the Never Again Action's march through two cities, 12 or 13 people were arrested in the lobby of Amazon's HQ at 101 Main Street in Cambridge. The one thousand person march began at the New England Holocaust Memorial, made it's way through the streets of Boston, crossed the Charles River and then en masse occupied Amazon's lobby, unfurling large banners accusing Amazon of helping United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) identify and track immigrants the same way IBM once helped Nazi Germany to track Jews and other "undesirables."
Background on Amazon's collaboration with ICE can be found here:
Who's Behind ICE?: The Tech Companies Fueling Deportations
See also: Photos from Never Again’s action at Amazon’s Boston HQ
The exact destination of the march was kept secret from reporters. I was only told that we were heading to a business with close ties to ICE.
Here's video of some of the protesters being arrested and led through a back door. There is a court support fund here.
Below is video of the event, starting with songs and a description of the event at the New England Holocaust Memorial:
"We said it once, we said it twice, No business with ICE!"
Marching through the streets:
Entering the lobby at Amazon:
Speeches given inside the lobby:
Matthew Taylor, of the Boston Tech Workers for Justice, explains the link between Amazon and ICE:
More explanations about Amazon's complicity and similarities with IBM and the Nazis:
Matteo talks from the perspective of a trans Latino Jew:
Jose Luis from Cosecha Boston is an undocumented immigrant:
Sahar tells the story of his family's journey to America:
Scott Gilbert of RefuseFascism.org:
At this point, everyone was seated for the blowing of a shofar, then, as the Cambridge Police tried to yell over the protest that everyone needed to leave, everyone ignored the police and left anyway.
Those who didn't leave were arrested by the police. See first video, at the top of this piece.
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