Mennonite Action-Led Hymn-Sings Spread to Target Stores Nationwide

Mennonite Action’s "Sing Down the Doors at Target" campaign brought coordinated hymn-sings and worship protests into Target stores from Topeka to the Bay Area and Philadelphia, with organizers saying the actions aimed to force the retailer to denounce ICE operations linked to violence in Minnesota. Adam Ramer, a Mennonite Action representative, estimated "well over 1,000" people took part across the country.

Organizers framed the protests as faith-based direct action. Mennonite Action’s campaign page said, "As people of faith, and as Mennonite Christians, we cannot be silent in the face of racist, supremacist authoritarian violence - from Palestine to Minneapolis. We have a different vision to proclaim. We love our neighbors. We welcome the stranger. We know God’s love has no borders." First Mennonite Church of Iowa City leader Aliese Gingerich said, "We are distraught by the hijacking of Christianity to justify hate and division," and added that "Christian nationalism is not Christlike" in a press release highlighted on social media.

Local actions list specific turnouts and tactics. On Feb 5, 35 Mennonites gathered at a Topeka Target, with a group of 10 entering the store to deliver a letter to the manager. Also on Feb 5 a Bay Area group sang "This Little Light of Mine" inside a Target and reported that a manager agreed to pass their demands up to supervisors. That same day in Philadelphia dozens joined a demonstration that ended in nonviolent civil disobedience; Mennonite Action reported "over 40 people were arrested," including clergy members.

Events continued into early February across other cities. On Feb 7, Mennonite Action DC/Maryland/Virginia held an action in Hyattsville, Maryland, where participants read the names of people killed by ICE officers, handed out leaflets, and asked to see the manager before giving him a letter with the group's demands. In the Research Triangle, North Carolina, more than 50 participants from Mennonite and Brethren congregations and allied activist groups sang inside a Target. Mennonite Action’s event roll-up also lists Asheville and additional Bay Area entries among other locations.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, drew one of the larger single-site turnouts. A By the People report said "more than 100 people" gathered at the Lancaster Target, and that demonstrations occurred at "over a dozen Target locations across the U.S." That article, published Feb. 18, 2026, repeated the Ramer participation estimate. Social posts tied to the Iowa organizing showed heavy engagement online, with one Facebook excerpt displaying 1.6K reactions, 247 comments, and 53K views.

Organizers explicitly urged Target to publicly oppose violent actions by ICE and federal agents in Minnesota, to pressure the Trump administration to withdraw ICE from Minnesota, and to urge Congress to end ICE funding; they also linked domestic immigration enforcement to U.S. policy in Palestine. Reports of manager interactions include the Bay Area manager who "agreed to pass along their demands" and the Hyattsville manager who received a letter, but the published accounts do not include a corporate statement from Target or law-enforcement comments about the Philadelphia arrests.