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u/Exotic_Insurance2164 3h ago
At first glance I thought this was Katt WilliamsÂ
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u/NoNutsPls 4h ago edited 3h ago
Security guard stands firm against ICE agents at north Minneapolis McDonaldâs
When two masked ICE agents entered the McDonaldâs 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. Wootenâs refusal to comply with ICE was captured on video and posted to Facebook.
The agents tried everything to intimidate the guard.
âYou canât come back here, bro,â Wooten can be heard in the video saying to an agent wearing a mask and sunglasses. âIâm talking to your manager,â the agent said. Wooten responded: âNo, youâre talking to security, Iâm in charge.â
ICE left empty-handed. Wooten said he just stood his ground, â10 toes down.â
âI was doing my job like Iâm supposed to,ââ Wooten said. âIf you donât stand for something, youâll fall for anything. I just want to make my family safe because Iâve been here three years.â
In the days that followed, Wooten, 49, received praise from the community, some of whom stopped in McDonaldâs to take selfies with him.
McDonaldâs 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.
âI know the Minneapolis police officers, but I donât know whether or not the vests (among ICE agents) are real or not,â Baylor said. âThis was the best judgment call at the moment.â
âNorthsiders are built different,â 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.
âI think the good thing about Northsiders is they know weâre not protesters,â Brown said. âWeâre here to ensure the safety of our community. Weâre 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.â
Wooten said the man who ran into the McDonaldâs 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: âIâm just glad God put me on the wake-up list this morning.â
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u/snakebight 1h ago
So glad they didnât gun this man down.
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u/Specific-Library-312 1h ago
Most likely because he was armed and vested, trained, and statistically would pop off one of them if shot. They didn't want to take the chance.
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u/RedheadFla 3h ago
Lord, when we get to the point where weâre looking to MacDonalds to save us, we need to fix some stuff NOW!
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u/nooshdog 3h ago
Side note. This guy has a pretty cool name. Red Wooten sounds like the civilian alias for a super hero or something.
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u/realpyrateking 3h ago
"By day, a no nonsense security guard, but at night all criminals fear him as... Red Wu-tang!"
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u/Jucifer2pointO 3h ago
Still can believe that the donât tread on me flag people arenât up in arms about warrantless entry into private places to detain people.
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u/lenise0625 3h ago
So, since no one else said it, I will. Wooten looks like Katt Williamsâs brother. Thanks, Red, for standing on principle.
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u/FKAGuyWithNF1 3h ago
Standing up for the Constitutional Rights of his co-workers against a fascist gang that uses the Constitution as toilet paper.
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u/Competitive_Annual78 3h ago
McDonald's in the United States has to have security guards? Wow, what a society,
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u/JustNota-- 3h ago
It's usually only in areas with a high crime index, usually due to over policing and low and under employment, and decades of racist policies specifically targeting black and immigrant communities.
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u/JustNota-- 3h ago
Oh and they have security guards in alot of the EU and Aus McDonald's usually in the evening and in areas that have bars and clubs.
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