SAN FRANCISCO, CA – According to reports, residents in San Francisco have devised a new way to alert locals in the vicinity when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are either in the immediate area or are actively arresting an individual. Anti-ICE advocates in the area have been candid about their new alert system utilizing whistles, effectively admitting the move is a means to obstruct immigration authorities.
In a late October social media post from San Francisco-based nonprofit Frameline, the group announced its intentions to start passing out whistles to locals in an effort to emulate a “whistle code” adopted in Chicago by anti-ICE activists.
“In Chicago, folks developed a whistle code to alert neighbors of ICE activity,” the featured graphic in the social media post reads, adding, “so we’re giving away free whistles,” while noting locals could pick up their whistles at either a local bar called Mothers or at the Roxie Theater.
A report from SFGate expanded on the whistle codes spreading across San Francisco, explaining how “Three short whistles signal that ICE is nearby, and one long whistle means that somebody is being detained.”
Gabriella Siaton, the manager of the Roxie Theater, said in a statement to SFGate that she’d only recently learned of the whistle code, adding, “I knew there were different sharings on social media regarding ICE agents being spotted in the Mission, but I appreciate how the whistle allows for a more instant and in-the-moment response.”
According to SFGate’s report, the trend, which originated in Chicago, does more than merely alert locals but also sends a discreet message that “tells immigrants and other vulnerable community members to run away while also urging fellow neighbors to gather in a crowd and run toward the scene to film arrests.”
Apparently, the anti-ICE whistle code concept adopted in Chicago and now spreading throughout San Francisco has some inspirational roots dating back to the 1970s, when pro-gay and lesbian groups of the era used similar whistle signals to alert locals of alleged hate crimes occurring in an area.
However, while the origin of such a whistle code was meant to alert to unlawful violence, the current iteration spreading within progressive circles is meant to obstruct federal immigration authorities. Nonprofit Frameline executive director Allegra Madsen essentially admitted to the aforementioned notion, telling SFGate, “We were inspired by the bold legacy of queer resistance - from San Francisco’s Butterfly Brigade blowing whistles in the Castro to defend each other from violence to the community organizing coming out of Chicago now.”
In a late October social media post from San Francisco-based nonprofit Frameline, the group announced its intentions to start passing out whistles to locals in an effort to emulate a “whistle code” adopted in Chicago by anti-ICE activists.
“In Chicago, folks developed a whistle code to alert neighbors of ICE activity,” the featured graphic in the social media post reads, adding, “so we’re giving away free whistles,” while noting locals could pick up their whistles at either a local bar called Mothers or at the Roxie Theater.
A report from SFGate expanded on the whistle codes spreading across San Francisco, explaining how “Three short whistles signal that ICE is nearby, and one long whistle means that somebody is being detained.”
Gabriella Siaton, the manager of the Roxie Theater, said in a statement to SFGate that she’d only recently learned of the whistle code, adding, “I knew there were different sharings on social media regarding ICE agents being spotted in the Mission, but I appreciate how the whistle allows for a more instant and in-the-moment response.”
According to SFGate’s report, the trend, which originated in Chicago, does more than merely alert locals but also sends a discreet message that “tells immigrants and other vulnerable community members to run away while also urging fellow neighbors to gather in a crowd and run toward the scene to film arrests.”
Apparently, the anti-ICE whistle code concept adopted in Chicago and now spreading throughout San Francisco has some inspirational roots dating back to the 1970s, when pro-gay and lesbian groups of the era used similar whistle signals to alert locals of alleged hate crimes occurring in an area.
However, while the origin of such a whistle code was meant to alert to unlawful violence, the current iteration spreading within progressive circles is meant to obstruct federal immigration authorities. Nonprofit Frameline executive director Allegra Madsen essentially admitted to the aforementioned notion, telling SFGate, “We were inspired by the bold legacy of queer resistance - from San Francisco’s Butterfly Brigade blowing whistles in the Castro to defend each other from violence to the community organizing coming out of Chicago now.”
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Comments
2025-11-16T22:32-0500 | Comment by: James
Shove the whistle down their marxist throats!