On Saturday, Jan. 31, Wrecktangle Pizza turned its Lyn-Lake corner into a towering political message, draping two enormous anti-ICE banners over its longtime Lake Street storefront. The panel facing Lyndale reads “ICE OUT OF MN,” and the Lake Street side answers with “FOR GOOD,” with faint rows of pale blue names stretching across the background. It is the latest public gesture from the locally beloved pizzeria, which has been providing donated meals and fundraising amid heightened federal enforcement in the Twin Cities.
Banner details and who paid for them
The banners hang at the busy corner of Lyndale and Lake and span roughly 66 feet on the Lyndale side and 37 feet on the Lake Street side, as reported by Bring Me The News. Elizabeth Klimenko, Wrecktangle's director of sales, marketing, and friendship, told the outlet that Minneapolis creative studio Burlesque of North America designed the pieces and offered to donate the installation, turning the facade into a massive statement wall at no cost to the shop.
Photos document the display
Photographs by Chad Davis posted to Wikimedia Commons show the banners stretched across the building on a snowy morning, with the pale blue names more clearly visible in the wintry light. The images independently document the wording, the scale of the banners, and their placement above Wrecktangle's Lyn-Lake storefront.
Pizzeria's donation work and political stance
Earlier in the month, on Jan. 8, Wrecktangle pledged to donate one 13-inch frozen pizza for every pie sold in response to ICE activity, a move that quickly swamped the shop with donated orders and volunteers, Bring Me The News reported. Owners told the paper the program was meant to support staff and neighbors who had been affected by federal enforcement operations, pairing the restaurant's politics with something tangible people could eat and share.
Context: protests, killings, and local fallout
The banners arrive after weeks of protests and mounting political pressure following a large federal enforcement surge in Minnesota. The Washington Post reported the Jan. 7 killing of Renée Good during an ICE operation, and TIME documented the Jan. 24 Border Patrol shooting that killed Alex Pretti; those incidents have sparked demonstrations, lawsuits, and calls from city and state leaders for federal agents to leave the state.
