LAPD warns ‘legal consequences’ as school walkouts continue

At least six people have been arrested in connection with student walkouts this month protesting immigration raids, as local and federal authorities warn of potential legal consequences ahead of additional demonstrations.

Five people were arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism and one on suspicion of battery on a police officer during the week of Feb. 2, according to Los Angeles Police Det. Meghan Aguilar. For several days that week, thousands of LAUSD students walked out and marched to downtown LA to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The LAPD didn’t respond to questions about whether those arrested were minors or adults.

In a Feb. 16 statement, the LAPD states it’s unlawful for minors under 18 to be in public places, streets, or amusement spots during school hours. Exceptions include emergencies or being with a parent. The department cited state education code requiring that children between the ages of 6 and 18 “must attend a full-time public day school for the full designated day.”

Legal consequences for violating daytime curfew are a possibility, LAPD said.

In the statement, the LAPD warns that any adult “who collects or picks up a child and transports them to participate in any illegal activities may be responsible for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and is subject to arrest and prosecution.”

“This law applies to actions like providing drugs/alcohol to minors, promoting truancy, and for parents failing to exercise reasonable supervision,” the LAPD continues.

The warning follows clashes at recent student demonstrations that, according to the LA Times, injured three federal agents.

A day later, Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, condemned the walkouts in a post on X, saying, “The only thing they will accomplish is ensuring violent agitators will be criminally prosecuted, juveniles included.”Essayli also posted photos of youth he said were sought in connection with a “violent attack on [Federal Protective Service] at our downtown Los Angeles property.”

In a statement, LAUSD said it “supports the rights of our students to express themselves and to advocate for causes that are important to them. Civic engagement is a vital part of education in a democracy.”

However, it added, “our foremost responsibility is student safety. Schools remain the safest place for students during the instructional day, and we are concerned about the potential risks associated with off-campus demonstrations.”

LAUSD did not specifically comment on the statements from Essayli and LAPD.

Peter Eliasberg, chief counsel and First Amendment Rights attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, called Essayli’s comments “disgusting.”

“To be posting and suggesting that they are criminals, on Twitter or X, is just completely inconsistent with the kind of protections that juveniles are supposed to have in the criminal justice system,” Eliasberg said.

Eliasberg found it “revolting” that Essayli is choosing to go after juveniles at a time when there have been cases of Department of Homeland Security agents “using lethal force, shooting people in the head with tear gas canisters and other weapons.”

While schools can enforce truancy rules, Eliasberg said, “bringing students into the criminal justice system is not to anyone’s benefit.”

“All it will do [is] actually cause kids to have to miss more school while they deal with criminal charges,” Eliasberg said.

Eliasberg said schools cannot punish students for missing class to engage in political protest more harshly than they would for skipping school for any other purpose.

For example, a student can serve detention for being away from school to attend the protest if that is how the school typically deals with unexcused absences, according to the ACLU’s “My School My Rights” website.

“Turning this kind of thing into a criminal matter is just a real misuse of the criminal system,” Eliasberg said.