Local Activism in the News
May 19, 2026
We Pulled $1 Million From Citizens Bank — Here’s Why By Rev. Ray Hammond
Katie Couric Media
An interfaith coalition is taking aim at the bank financing private prison companies profiting from ICE detention.
May 3, 2026
Marking May Day with protest, march, training, music and food
Gotta Know Medford
Medford residents and organizations protest at Citizens Bank but also host a potluck with music and speakers to mark May Day 2026.
COURTESY PHOTO/Laura C. Arena
May 2, 2026
Boston’s clergy is asking Citizens Bank to stop funding ICE detention centers
Boston Globe
They’re among those calling on Citizens Bank to end its business relationship with two for-profit prison contractors
Read the article in the Boston Globe (paywall)
Read PDF (large file)
Sophie Park for The Boston Globe
April 28, 2026
OPINION: Why May Day is different this year
Gotta Know Medford
Meghan Searl, a co-leader of Mystic Mashup Indivisible and a Medford resident, explains what is on tap for the May 1 day of action and why she believes it is so important.
April 23, 2026
Roundup of Coverage of the People’s Shareholder Meeting to De-ICE Citizens Bank
On April 23, hundreds of protestors gathered in Providence, RI outside the headquarters of Citizens Bank in advance of their Annual Shareholders Meeting to express their opposition to the bank’s funding of private prisons. In attendance were several members of MMI as well as representatives of progressive, faith and union organizations across the state and New England.
Here’s a compilation of news coverage of the event.
Brown labor union divesting $500K from Citizens over ICE prison financing – Providence Business News
Protestors rally outside Citizens Bank HQ over ICE funding ties – WPRI.com
Anti-ICE activists to protest Citizens Bank headquarters in Providence – Providence Journal (Paywall)
Brown union to pull $500K from Citizens Bank over ICE ties. Boston faith leaders may follow. – Rhode Island Current
Activists take aim at Citizens Bank, demand exit from ICE detention business – Ocean State Media
Hundreds protest Citizens Bank’s ties to ICE outside shareholder meeting – Brown Daily Herald
Hundreds Protest Against Citizens Bank Over Ties to ICE Prison Partners – Truth Out
Members of MMI hold their protest signs in front of Citizens Bank in Providence, RI.
Writing “DE-ICE CITIZENS” in chalk outside Citizens Bank headquarters in Providence, RI.
April 6, 2026
‘Flag Guy’ is hard to miss at No Kings, anti-ICE protests – By Stan Grossfeld Globe Staff
BURLINGTON – How hard is it to be Flag Guy, the human who transforms himself into the 20-foot high flag display at anti-Trump demonstrations in and around Boston?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
Read the article from the Boston Globe (paywall)
Read PDF (large file)
Carter Chamberlain, a fusion physicist, holds 18 upside down American flags during a Bearing Witness ICE protest outside the regional field office for ICE in Burlington on April 1. Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
March 25, 2026
No Kings Rally for Winchester, Medford area set for March 28
Gotta Know Medford
Medford residents are welcome to join Winchester’s third No Kings rally on March 28. Organizers hope to draw in more than 1,000 people.
COURTESY PHOTO/WINCHESTER NEWS/FRANK SITEMAN
March 7, 2026
Protesters seek to bring attention to how immigration detention is financed
Gotta Know Medford
Members of Mystic Mashup Indivisible held a protest in front of Citizens Bank in Medford Square on March 7 because of the bank’s financial ties to the federal governments’ immigration detention and deportation program.
Photo by Wendall Waters
March 7, 2026
Anti-ICE protests to hit Citizens Bank over ties to prison management companies
Read the article from the Boston Globe (paywall)
Anti-ICE protesters criticize Citizens Bank in Northampton at this January protest. Photo by Peyton Fleming
January 31, 2026
Roundup of coverage of ICE Out Everywhere on January 31, 2026
Here’s a collection of stories that came out of the ICE Out Everywhere events:
‘Stand up, fight back’: Protesters on Common assail deportation tactics around country – Boston Globe (paywall)
Boston Common ICE Out Everywhere Protest – Must See Moments – Boston.com
Boston rally draws crowds protesting ICE, Trump administration immigration enforcement – WCVB
‘ICE Out Everywhere’: Protesters rally in Boston against ICE – NBC Boston 10
Anti-ICE protesters gather on Boston Common – WBUR
Anti-ICE protesters gather in Boston to voice opposition – Mass Live
John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
January 28, 2026
The Tufts Daily
On Saturday January 24 in single-digit temps, two groups of protesters from Mystic Mashup Indivisible took a stand outside Citizen Bank branches is Medford and Davis Squares. The standouts are part of the Boycott Citizens campaign targeting Citizens Bank’s funding of for-profit ICE prisons run by CoreCivic and The GEO Group. Protesters handed out flyers to increase awareness of the problem and encouraged passersby to close their accounts at the bank. More standouts are being planned for February and beyond.
Photo by Amelia Sammons / The Tufts Daily
January 26, 2026
Gotta Know Medford
At last week’s City Council meeting, the Medford City Council passed a resolution denouncing the killing of Renee Nicole Goode, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother who was killed by an ICE agent who opened fire as she attempted to drive away. The council appealed to Mayor Lungo-Koehn to take a stand and articulate her plans to address the situation in Medford where residents feel unsafe. Many residents spoke in support of the resolution, including Mystic Mashup’s Meghan Searl and Jason Rabin.
After another Minneapolis killing by ICE this weekend, Mayor Lungo-Koehn and Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang issued a joint statement decrying the ICE occupations in Minneapolis and in Portland, Maine.
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
January 14, 2026
OPINION: ICE off our streets! Medford residents raise their voices
Gotta Know Medford
Medford community members Jennifer Yanco and Barry Ingber wrote an opinion piece for Gotta Know Medford following the successful standout on Sunday, January 11 in Medford Square.
The standout was a grassroots response to the increasingly violent presence of ICE and in particular to the murder by an ICE agent of US citizen Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
COURTESY PHOTO/Ian Brownell
January 11, 2026
Mystic Mashup Shows Up for ICE Out for Good
In the aftermath of the murder of Renee Good at the hands of an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7, Indivisible and other groups put out a call for a weekend of protest called ICE Out for Good. More than 1,200 events were held around the country on January 10 and 11.
Members of Mystic Mashup participated in a standout action in Medford Square on Sunday 1/11 along with members of Safe Medford, Indivisible Somerville and other local groups to protest the actions of ICE in Massachusetts and around the country.
On less than 36 hours notice, more than 100 community members gathered with signs and noisemakers. Passersby waved, honked their horns and shouted encouragement for the protest. Several local elected officials were also on hand. One person’s idea turned into a powerful event that brought neighbors together around common goals, a testament to what one voice can do!
January 3, 2026
Boston area responds to Trump administration’s military actions in Venezuela
In response to an overnight action by the U.S. military in Venezuela that included the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, the bombing of civilians and the proclamation that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela for the time being, area activists and residents gathered in downtown Boston on Sunday, January 3. Here is a round-up of local coverage of Boston’s response to these shocking developments in Latin America.
Demonstrators gather near State House to protest Trump administration’s ‘war for oil’ in Venezuela – WCVB Boston
Boston protesters rally against US military action in Venezuela – Boston25 News
Greater Boston’s Venezuelan community cautiously hopeful as Democratic lawmakers condemn capture of Maduro – Boston Globe (paywall)
PHOTO COURTESY OF PAULA WORSLEY
December 17, 2025
Boston rebels against Trump immigration policies with an ‘ICE Tea Party’
Boston Globe
Read the article from the Boston Globe (paywall)
KEN MCGAGH FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
December 16, 2025
Demonstrators dump ice into Boston Harbor to recreate historic protest
Fox Boston 25 News (WFXT)
On December 16, an estimated 1,000 people braved the cold to descend upon the Tea Party Ships in Boston Harbor and dump ice into the water on the 252nd anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. Protesters from many local organizations, including Mystic Mashup, gathered in Boston to take a stand against Trump’s use of ICE to detain and terrorize people in Massachusetts and around the country. Watch the video
December 15, 2025
OPINION: How bi-weekly trash pickup can work for us by Prabitha Natarajan
Gotta Know Medford
Medford resident Prabitha Natarajan tackles the controversial subject of reducing trash collection in Medford to every other week in 2027. She asserts that with rising costs, the city cannot sustain trash pickup at this rate forever without incurring funding cuts to other programs. Read the article on Gotta Know Medford
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMANTHA POKORNY/TUFTS DAILY