Protesters plan to take to downtown Minneapolis streets Thursday afternoon as rush hour begins to rally against President Trump's latest travel restrictions affecting Muslim-majority countries.
Dubbed #NoMuslimBanEver, the rallies are expected to pop up in 10 downtown area locations from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Among the locations: near the entrance ramp to Interstate 35 South on 4th Avenue and near the entrance ramp to I-394 on 3rd Street.
The Supreme Court recently dismissed a major challenge to Trump's travel ban affecting Muslim-majority countries when it was replaced with one that added North Korea and Venezuela to the restricted travel list.
"This is the third iteration of the president's racist, unconstitutional and discriminatory Muslim ban," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director for CAIR-MN, which is organizing Thursday's protests. "The president began his administration by excluding Muslims from the United States and is now expressing deep-seated prejudice toward other immigrant communities. His bias, bigotry, and discrimination continue to seep into his policies in violation of the Constitution, disrespecting our country's history, laws and values."
Adding two non-majority Muslim countries to the list doesn't change the math or the intent of Trump's new Muslim ban when six out of eight targeted countries are Muslim majority, Hussein said.
The Washington-based civil rights organization recently launched an app to share "know your rights" information and simplify the process to report hate crimes and bias incidents.
Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788
