On the sidewalk outside of the Columbia Heights shopping mall on Saturday morning, a group of about 10 protestors scattered around the entrances.
They extended leaflets to anyone passing by and asked them politely if they would boycott the mall’s Target, the Minneapolis-based retail giant.
“Hell yeah,” a woman walking by called back.
“Oh, nah, I’ll be shopping there,” another man replied.
Since March 5, 2025, the Boycott Target DC Coalition has brought groups of varying sizes to this sidewalk every Saturday making an effort to hurt the company’s profits. The coalition was formed in response to the company’s rollbacks of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The coalition’s protests then gained steam when Target’s stores and parking lots were the site of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) arrests and conflict with protestors.
Dante O’Hara is a co-lead of the coalition and says he has often been asked by his neighbors why he isn’t protesting outside the White House.
“We are very focused on a corporate target, because they’re financially supporting the administration,” O’Hara said. “You have to understand this relationship between capital and governance.”
Target changed its DEI strategy in January 2025. In a press release from that time, Target announced the conclusion of its “three-year diversity, equity and inclusion goals,” and the end of its “Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives.”
Target also announced it would stop its diversity-focused surveys. These changes occurred in tandem with the Trump administration’s call for large corporations to roll back DEI programming when President Donald Trump returned to office.
Two months later, the Boycott Target DC Coalition’s demonstrations began, following the lead of Atlanta-based Rev. Jamal Bryant who called for a national boycott through his group “TargetFast”.
One of the principal organizers of the Washington, D.C.’s participation in the boycott was Rev. Graylan Hagler who passed away three days after Saturday’s protest from laryngeal cancer. Hagler could be found outside the Columbia Heights Target most Saturdays until he was rehospitalized in August of last year, according to O’Hara.
“Every single corporation that has surrendered to this administration is actually surrendering justice,” Hagler said in a promotional video for the coalition on Instagram.
“In 2020 they said we recognize we’re a company based in Minnesota where George Floyd was murdered, we’re going to give money to these causes,” said Emma Curchin, 26, of DC’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood and a member of the coalition. “That was fake. They pulled that away as soon as they could.”
Many Saturdays it’s a small group handing out pamphlets and holding signs, but sometimes it’s more. Last May on the fifth year anniversary of Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, the coalition organized a prayer vigil led by DC’s Black Clergy. They have also brought live music to the sidewalk to help draw attention to their cause.
“People just love live music in D.C.,” O’Hara said. “If you can bring that kind of cultural angle to this stuff people will be really engaged and want to come.”
ICE arrested two Target employees who were U.S. citizens while they were working at the store on Jan. 13 in Minnesota, according to the New York Times. The store was also home to a viral video of former Commander-At-Large of United States Border Patrol Gregory Bovino emerging from the bathroom flanked by several masked agents, while protestors yelled at him.
While Target declined to comment about the coalition, a spokesperson told Capital News Service Saturday that it does not have cooperative agreements with ICE or any other immigration enforcement agency. After the killing of Alex Pretti, Target CEO Michael Fiddelke signed a joint letter calling for an immediate de-escalation of tensions between state, local and federal officials.
Fiddelke also sent an internal email to all Target employees noting that “the violence and loss of life in our community is incredibly painful” and that “we are doing everything we can to manage what’s in our control, always keeping the safety of our team and guests our top priority.”
“I know they cancelled their DEI programs, and I stopped shopping there,” Eric Traub, a 48-year-old resident of D.C.’s Edgewood neighborhood, said while protesting on Saturday. “But when the [arrests] happened in Minnesota I specifically came out because I think we as a people need to stop supporting and sponsoring the illegal actions of ICE.”
O’Hara said the protesters plan on continuing the boycott until their list of demands is met, including the restoration of DEI programs.
“Everything’s burning in the world right now, so we’re having small conversations,” O’Hara said. “We want to sort of raise their political consciousness about [the fact] they have power in their dollar to not give it to these big corporations and spend it elsewhere.”