Angela Sanpayo: ‘I’ve been a walking target.’
Angela Sanpayo is a fourth-year animal science major at the University of Minnesota.
“I was born and raised in Minnesota. Right now, I just want to work with animals because I just love them so much, and the U has a good program for that.
“I found it a little concerning how much it [Operation Metro Surge] affected me. Concerned? Very much. Surprised? Not at all. A lot of communities were targeted, including mine. It’s just really how you look, so it’s always felt like I’ve been a walking target. My parents wanted me to stay at home with them just so they could keep an eye on me, knowing that I’m in the city, so they were pretty concerned about that, and coming back here, like, ‘You gotta text us when you’re leaving the house, when you come back home.’
“It’s also been a little infuriating, just the whole situation. You kind of saw everything coming from a mile away, but now we’re suffering from the consequences. Not even just people who look like me. I mean, what, two Americans got killed in protests, just for being there really? Yeah, everybody’s being affected. Not just me.
“Since the beginning of the whole operation, people were like, ‘Oh, they’re just getting rid of the worst of the worst, right?’ I already knew that was a lie. If you look like me, you’re automatically a target. So I already knew what was gonna go down. That’s why it’s infuriating, ’cause, like, I told you this was gonna happen, I mean, I hate that I’m right. It definitely instilled fear, a lot. A lot of academic disruptions. It kind of felt like COVID again somewhat because of the virtual meetings.
“Protests around here, oh my gosh, I’m so glad to see that there are a lot of people that are supporting people like me. So, it gives me a lot of hope. I really wanted to go into the protest in the heat of the moment, and I was telling my mom about it. I was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna go to the protest in front of the Graduate,’ and she was like, ‘I love you, but don’t.’ She was so concerned for me, and I can’t lie to my mom, so I can’t be like, ‘Fine, I won’t go,’ and then show up. It would hurt me more if something bad happened to me, and then she gets upset. I don’t care what happens to me, but her, she’s concerned about me, so I couldn’t do it. But I was donating some money to some organizations, and through my church, me and my dad were driving around delivering food to other families that weren’t comfortable going outside yet. So that’s my part. I could have done more, but I feel like little by little it helps.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview by Wren Warne-Jacobsen
