Hundreds of SC high school students walk out of class to protest Trump, ICE
Hundreds of Columbia high school students walked out of their classrooms Tuesday afternoon in protest of President Donald Trump’s administration, one year after he was sworn into office for a second time.
At Dreher High School, a few dozen students marched up and down the sidewalk along Millwood Avenue with homemade signs after walking out of class Tuesday afternoon. The small group chanted slogans against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and cheered when passing cars honked their horns.
Students who spoke to The State said the protest had come together organically as word spread among like-minded students about other demonstrations around the Midlands planned for Tuesday, but they were surprised at just how many walked out. Others had been diverted to the school’s auditorium as the school tried to contain any protests to the campus, students said, while those with cars at the school had driven to the State House for a later protest planned there. “We have a Hispanic population at this school, and we want to know that they’re protected,” one 16-year-old said. If there ever was action by ICE at Dreher High School, “we wanted to show that the students and the students’ parents would not support something like that,” the student said. Another student said she wasn’t worried about potential repercussions for walking out of class Tuesday. “My parents are supportive of me being here, so they said if anything happens with the school for us being out here, they won’t say anything,” she said. It was more important, she said, for students to have a chance to express their feelings and hopefully find more ways to get involved.
Richland School District 1 school district reported that around 200 students left classes at Dreher as part of the protest. Many of those gathered in the school’s auditorium for approximately 15 minutes before returning to class, a district spokesperson said in an email.
The Post and Courier reported that about 200 students gathered in an auxiliary gym at Richland Northeast High School, and another 45 in front of Spring Valley High School.
A protest of about 20 students at the University of South Carolina happened simultaneously on campus, according to university spokesman Jeff Stensland.
School walkouts were coordinated by three organizations, Midlands SC Defensa, 50501 SC and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and larger protest was staged at the State House later in the evening, where hundreds chanted and held signs that spurned immigration enforcement and the current administration.
“Donald Trump, let’s be clear, immigrants are welcome here,” protesters yelled.
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