Army veteran Ian Austin protesting outside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis last week (left). Days after telling Mother Jones, “I’m not going to live in fear,” he was arrested by federal agents on Friday (right).Julia Lurie/Mother Jones illustration
On Friday, federal agents arrested Ian Austin, an Army veteran and ICE protester who was featured in a recent viral Mother Jones video.
Austin was among the dozens of protesters who, nearly two weeks ago, interrupted a service at a church in St. Paul, where a local ICE official serves as a pastor. Since then, federal officials have been targeting those involved in the demonstration—including, today, journalist Don Lemon—and arresting them on federal charges.
“It’s fucking emotional as hell, and it’s scary,” he said over the phone earlier in the week, “but I’m not going to live in fear.”
I met Austin last week outside the Whipple Federal Building, where ICE operations are based and where there has been a standing protest for weeks. I was struck by the honesty and vulnerability he brought to the conversation; he was brought to tears by how betrayed he felt by the government he had fought for.
“When they say, ‘Why would you be out here?’ How the fuck could I not be out here?” he said at the time. “My nation is under attack.”
A few days earlier, Austin had been tackled and arrested for peacefully protesting outside the same building. He was detained for several hours—in shackles—before being released without charges.
In the days after we met, as news broke that some protesters from the church demonstration had been arrested, I checked in with Austin. Was he worried that he’d be next? “It’s fucking emotional as hell, and it’s scary,” he said over the phone, “but I’m not going to live in fear.” He added, “You guys want to arrest me for protesting and expressing our First Amendment rights in a church?…I’ll go down with the ship.”
Austin was arrested on Friday outside the Whipple Building. Sarah Gad, a Minneapolis defense attorney who was there to see another client, happened to witness the arrest and was able to speak with him afterwards for a few minutes.
“Federal agents just kind of swarmed this young man,” she said. “He wasn’t shouting or being boisterous. It just seemed like they were looking for him and they found him and they just kind of pounced.”
Neither Austin nor Gad knew what he was being charged with. Austin is being held at the Sherburne County Jail, about 40 minutes from Minneapolis.
