Mayor Reinert comments on Duluth City Hall protest

DULUTH, Minn. — As many Minnesotans participated in anti-ICE protests, and some businesses shut down for the day as part of statewide demonstrations. Nearly 100 community members gathered at the Duluth City Hall rotunda for a civil protest organized by Twin Ports Democratic Socialists of America.

Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert spoke on the protests and addressed the city’s role.

“We are a welcoming community. We believe that diversity is something that makes our community vibrant. It makes us strong, it makes us more interesting,” said Reinert. “I firmly believe as mayor, the number one thing that we can be doing right now for our residents is providing that stability and reliability that they come to expect from local government.”

The mayor also stressed the importance of stopping the spread of misinformation, urging people to be thoughtful about what they share online and to reach out to public safety teams if they are unsure.

Reinert cautioned, “think about the potential for somebody who is already feeling anxious or confused or scared to have to feel even more so because of something that’s being spread online that you know isn’t true.”

He emphasized that the City of Duluth does not participate in federal law enforcement.

“It doesn’t matter whether what uniform someone’s wearing or if they’re wearing uniform at all. We have over 900 city employees, and it’s just not their job. You know, amidst all of this ongoing activity in Minnesota, we still need to plow the streets. We still need to keep water running to homes in a record cold spell. You know, we’re still grooming ski trails. We’re still providing library programming. That’s the thing that local government does,” Reinert elaborated.

He added that Duluth’s public safety team is trustworthy and committed to the community.