RELEASE: Madison, October 4, 2026: Film Screening of “When ICE Melts” to Support the MN 15 – Organizing Is Not A Crime!

PRESS PSA:

Madison labor & community activists of “FREE THE 15 DEFENSE COMMITTEE MADISON” ORGANIZE SCREENING OF, “WHEN ICE MELTS,” AND PANEL DISCUSSION

MADISON LABOR TEMPLE Rm 201-ABC

1602 S. Park St. Madison WI

FOR Press/questions, contact: freemn15@proton.me

“When ICE Melts – Testimonies from the Frontlines” is a documentary film, made by activists in Minneapolis, that examines how ordinary people organized across neighborhoods, workplaces, unions and communities to resist repression and build collective power against Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, MN. This documentary draws the strategic lessons of those experiences, including the decisive nature of the January 23rd mass strike in defeating ICE.

FOLLOWING THE FILM SCREENING THERE WILL BE PANEL DISCUSSION:

Panelists include:

– Kip Hedges, filmmaker and activist, Minneapolis MN
– Bruce Nestor, NLG/defense attorney Minneapolis MN
– Kieran Knutson, President, CWA Local 7250 Minneapolis MN
– Cynthia Sarver, labor activist, Twin Cities
– Andy Thayer, activist and independent journalist, Chicago IL and Freedom Inc representative

PROGRAM:

3-4 pm Community potluck – bring a dish to share and build community
4-5:30 pm Film screening “When ICE Melts”
5:30-7 pm Panel discussion

Appeals for donations to a legal defense will circulate at this event: Legal defense fund: https://chuffed.org/project/186570-minnesota-15-legal-defense-fund

Endorsements (list in formation): The Havens Wright Center for Social Justice; The Progressive Magazine; WI BOPM; Workers United; IBEW 2304; Voces de la Frontera; UFAS/AFT #223; UE Local 1186; SEIU WI; AFSCME Local 1; AFSCME Local 171; AFSCME Local 2634; South Central Federation of Labor; Worker Justice Wisconsin; PSL Madison; Madison Rafah Sister City Project, Moratorium Now Coalition, Madison Area DSA; Socialist Horizon; Socialist Alternative; Jewish Voice for Peace; A Room of One’s Own; Madison World Beyond War; Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice