SANDPOINT — Hundreds gathered along both sides of First Avenue on Saturday afternoon to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The protest was organized in response to the fatal shooting of a women in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer. Jean Gerth, an organizer with Sandpoint Indivisible, said they planned the event in two days after seeing momentum building nationally.

"When I started reading all of the national organizing that was going on ... it was like 'OK, this is an issue that people are ready to come out on the streets,'" Gerth said.

Organizers said they counted 220 attendees during the two-hour protest. Protesters ranged from longtime locals to those making the trip up from Coeur d'Alene to express their frustration with the nation's direction. 

Groups could be heard discussing and singing songs during the foggy, wintery day. Gerth said she was proud of the community for coming out on short notice and that it spoke to the residents' compassion.

"It says they care," Gerth said about the attendance. "I don't see this as a political event; I see this as people really standing up and saying, 'What is going on isn't right.'"

The Sandpoint protest was one of hundreds nationwide, called the 'ICE Out for Good' protests, that are set to take place over the weekend.

A protester holds up a sign at Sandpoint's "ICE Out for Good" protest on Saturday.