Community continues to protest ICE after death of beloved SCCPSS teacher

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Today, Feb. 21, the Grassroots Organization, 5051 Savannah rallied against ICE operations in the U.S, following the death of a beloved school teacher this past week. Organizers say they had already planned this rally to protest ICE operations nationwide —before Monday’s deadly crash that killed Dr. Linda Davis.

Rally participants say the tragedy has only intensified their demands for changes to how ICE conducts operations.

“A woman was killed as a result of a high-speed chase that DHS... that ICE was a part of”, 5051 Savannah Organizing Director, Robin Montgomery said. “A chase that would not have happened if our local law enforcement had been used, because they have a policy against that.”

The crash occurred when the Department of Homeland Security was conducting an operation near Truman Parkway. ICE agents attempted to stop a man identified as Oscar Vasquez-Lopez. When Lopez did not pull over, agents pursued him. During the chase, Lopez’s vehicle struck and killed Dr. Linda Davis.

“I think the tragic incident that we saw locally is a result of ICE doing local police work when they’re not trained to be doing it,” 5051 Savannah volunteer Evan Karp said. “I don’t think that the Savannah Police Department or local police would be in a high-speed chase like that.”

Participants were seen holding banners, some inscribed with ‘Abolish ICE’ over the bridge on SR 21.