The People, United, Will Never Be Defeated: Leila Navidi’s Photograph as a Defining Image of Resistance to Trump’s ICE Regime

 Via Reading The Pictures

February 23, 2026

Heavily armed, masked federal immigration agents face a cluster of neighborhood residents filming them with their phones during an ICE operation that resulted in a car accident in St. Paul in January 2026. Leila Navidi/Minneapolis Star Tribune

A spontaneous ICE encounter on a St. Paul block becomes a rare picture of practiced solidarity—and a case study in how images can answer federal power.

By Michael Shaw

Leila Navidi’s photograph for the Minneapolis Star Tribune shows St. Paul neighbors on a Cathedral Hill sidewalk on February 11, 2026, standing shoulder to shoulder with their phones raised as militarized ICE agents turn away.

What began as a spontaneous response to a high‑speed crash caused by an ICE chase becomes, in her frame, a rare picture of collective solidarity—everyday residents forming a united front, documenting federal power, and quietly claiming the moral ground.

While the image went viral, little was written about why it had such an impact. In our latest Chatting the Pictures video, we read it detail by detail, to show how its composition, timing, and gestures have made it a breakthrough resistance picture for this state and this moment. Watch now:

More: The events that built this picture