It was eight weeks after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had begun searching the streets of Minneapolis for immigrants, triggering protests and clashes, when the state’s business community finally issued a statement: On Jan. 25 the CEOs of 60 eminent companies via the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce called for “an immediate deescalation of tensions.” By then the ICE agents had killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good, a mother of three, and—the day before the letter was released—a registered nurse named Alex Pretti.
Here’s how those CEOs’ statement was received: It was called “milquetoast,” “hollow,” and “meek,” by commenters on social media. Many pointed out that it didn’t condemn ICE or even name Good or Pretti. It didn’t call for halting the enforcement operations that led to the killings, or ejecting ICE from the state. A participant in drafting that brief, bland statement tells Fortune that calibrating the message and language so that all 60 companies could get on board took two weeks.
