This story was originally published by North News, a community news source and youth journalism training program based in north Minneapolis. Subscribe to their print magazine or sign up for their newsletter here.
When two masked ICE agents entered the McDonald’s restaurant on West Broadway Avenue in search of a suspect, they saw Red.
The Red in their eyes was Red Wooten, a security guard and Northsider, who greeted the two agents at the front door and blocked them from going behind the counter.
The standoff with agents happened on Jan. 8, one day after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in south Minneapolis. Wooten’s refusal to comply with ICE was captured on video and posted to Facebook.
The agents tried everything to intimidate the guard.
“You can’t come back here, bro,” Wooten can be heard in the video saying to an agent wearing a mask and sunglasses. “I’m talking to your manager,” the agent said. Wooten responded: “No, you’re talking to security, I’m in charge.”
ICE left empty-handed. Wooten said he just stood his ground, “10 toes down.”
“I was doing my job like I’m supposed to,’’ Wooten said. “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. I just want to make my family safe because I’ve been here three years.”
In the days that followed, Wooten, 49, received praise from the community, some of whom stopped in McDonald’s to take selfies with him.
McDonald’s store owner Justin Baylor said Wooten acted responsibly. Following the incident, his store posted a sign that prohibits ICE and other law enforcement from entering without a proper judicial warrant.
“I know the Minneapolis police officers, but I don’t know whether or not the vests (among ICE agents) are real or not,” Baylor said. “This was the best judgment call at the moment.”
“Northsiders are built different,” one Facebook user wrote in praise of Wooten, and KB Brown, who founded the community security group Project Refocus, elaborated on how Northsiders are standing up to ICE.
He and his security team have responded to several reports of ICE on the Northside. Brown said ICE recently tried staging in the Swank parking lot on West Broadway. He said he reminded them that they are on private property and told them to leave.
“I think the good thing about Northsiders is they know we’re not protesters,” Brown said. “We’re here to ensure the safety of our community. We’re not the protesting type of people. We more or less are trying to make sure we get through life and take care of each other.”
Wooten said the man who ran into the McDonald’s looked scared, and the fear on his face melted his heart.
The upbeat Wooten said he loves to see people smile and has appreciated Northsiders stopping by to thank him.
To understand his positive energy, Wooten has a phrase he likes to say: “I’m just glad God put me on the wake-up list this morning.”
