Celebrities wear pins protesting ICE at the Golden Globes

Some celebrities donned anti-ICE pins at the Golden Globes on Sunday in tribute to Renee Good, who was shot and killed in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer last week in Minneapolis.

The black-and-white pins displayed slogans like “BE GOOD” and “ICE OUT,” introducing a political angle into the awards show after last year’s relatively apolitical ceremony.

Mark Ruffalo, Wanda Sykes and Natasha Lyonne wore the pins on the red carpet, while Jean Smart and Ariana Grande donned them once inside the ballroom. Smart had the pin on her dress as she accepted the award for best performance by a female actor in a musical or comedy series.

Since the shooting Wednesday, protests have broken out across the country, calling for accountability for Good’s death as well as a separate shooting in Portland where Border Patrol agents wounded two people. Some protests have resulted in clashes with law enforcement, especially in Minneapolis, where ICE is carrying out its largest immigration enforcement operation to date.

“We need every part of civil society, society to speak up,” said Nelini Stamp of Working Families Power, one of the organizers for the anti-ICE pins. “We need our artists. We need our entertainers. We need the folks who reflect society.”

Congressmembers have vowed an assertive response, and an FBI investigation into Good’s killing is ongoing. The Trump administration has doubled down in defending the ICE officer’s actions, maintaining that he was acting in self-defense and thought Good would hit him with her car.

Just a week before Good was killed, an off-duty ICE officer fatally shot and killed 43-year-old Keith Porter in Los Angeles. His death sparked protests in the Los Angeles area, calling for the officer responsible to be arrested.

Organizers bring grassroots push to Golden Globes parties

The idea for the “ICE OUT” pins began with a late-night text exchange earlier this week between Stamp and Jess Morales Rocketto, the executive director of a Latino advocacy group called Maremoto.

They know that high-profile cultural moments can introduce millions of viewers to social issues. This is the third year of Golden Globes activism for Morales Rocketto, who has previously rallied Hollywood to protest the Trump administration’s family separation policies. Stamp said she always thinks of the 1973 Oscars, when Sacheen Littlefeather took Marlon Brando’s place and declined his award to protest American entertainment’s portrayal of Native Americans.

So, the two organizers began calling up the celebrities and influencers they knew, who in turn brought their campaign to the more prominent figures in their circles. That initial outreach included labor activist Ai-jen Poo, who walked the Golden Globes’ red carpet in 2018 with Meryl Streep to highlight the Time’s Up movement.

“There is a longstanding tradition of people who create art taking a stand for justice in moments,” Stamp said. “We’re going to continue that tradition.”

Allies of their movement have been attending the “fancy events” that take place in the days leading up to the Golden Globes, according to Stamp. They’re passing out the pins at parties and distributing them to neighbors who will be attending tonight’s ceremony.

“They put it in their purse and they’re like, ‘Hey would you wear this?’ It’s so grassroots,” Morales Rocketto said.

The organizers pledged to continue the campaign throughout awards season to ensure the public knows the names of Good and others killed by ICE agents in shootings.