Students at San Angelo Central High School have walked out in protest of recent operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across America.
Just before noon on Tuesday, a large group of students was seen exiting the school on foot, according to witnesses near the campus.
The procession began across from Santa Fe Golf Course, where at least two hundred students made their way off campus, down Beauregard, turning at Park St. before going around the campus and continuing on.
The students chanted and screamed their sentiments as they marched down the road, to the annoyance of some rush hour commuters, and to the honks and yells of encouragement from others.
The San Angelo students join a increasing number of student bodies that have defied threats from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency to arrest and investigate what they characterized as “inappropriate political demonstrations.”
Since mid-January, major walkouts have occurred in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Plano, Waco, Arlington, Frisco, Wylie, Prosper, Bellaire, Klein, Humble, Pasadena, and Conroe.
According to original reporting from The Texas Tribune, New Braunfels ISD released a statement Jan. 30 acknowledging walkouts at their campuses, noting that participants would be marked absent and disciplined for “actions that disrupt instruction or pose safety concern.”
The Tribune went on to report that during a related protest at the University of Texas at Austin that same day, speakers repeatedly condemned federal officers for deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37-year-old Minneapolis residents, were killed.
Good was shot while attempting to drive away as ICE agents tried to get her out of her vehicle on Jan. 7. Pretti was tackled and fatally shot on Jan. 24 by a Border Patrol officer as he was helping a civilian up off the ground.
— Photos and additional reporting by Will McDaniel
2 Comments
They didn’t protest on campus, they exercised their freedom of speech, so it seems like the only punishment that can be levied is an unexcused absence.
My boyfriend was in the protest, the students didn’t want to skip. They believe in the cause and they exercised their right to protest and speak freely.