“If you see ICE in the neighbourhood, blow your whistle in short bursts. If you witness ICE detaining someone, blow the whistle in a long, repeated pattern.”
This is the code established by a New York advocacy group Hands Off NYC, encouraging the use of whistles as an alliance with undocumented immigrants across the country.
Places like Chicago have held ”whistle parties” where they hand out the instruments, with one group handing out 15,000 of them according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
However, right wing individuals have branded whistles as “hearing-loss-causing machines” and suggested that the act of blowing a whistle may embody “assault”.
Mike Cernovich, who is part of a conservative movement, recently claimed that whistles “should be considered a violent weapon”.
Megyn Kelly, a right wing podcaster, suggested that whistleblowing contributed to Pretti being shot dead by immigration agents and said that the use of whistles “needs to stop”.
“Now, some are saying that’s fine. That actually is interference. You – if you came out on your front lawn and just blew a coach’s whistle at the top of your lungs all day, you would be cited by the police under the local noise ordinances. It would be a disturbance of the peace. That’s what these people are doing. And no doubt they contributed to the chaotic atmosphere that ultimately led Alex Pretti to die,” Media Matters recorded Kelly as saying. Kelly was also upset by Justin Vernon, of Bon Iver, displaying his whistle at the Grammys.
When interviewed, Vernon commented: “The whistle is there to represent all the observers in Minneapolis. They are out there on the street corner, 30 below, and they are warning their neighbours of danger. And I think music is a beautiful thing. We make it with soft hands, though. I think the real work of humanity and empathy are those people that see that and they don’t stay at home. They get out on the street and they are taking care of each other and nothing could inspire me more.”