Hundreds Of L.A. High School Students Staged Walkouts Monday To Protest Trump

Hundreds of Los Angeles high school students walked out of classes Monday morning in a show of unity against President-elect Donald Trump and his stances on immigration. Dulce Ramirez, a senior at Roosevelt Magnet School in Boyle Heights, told LAist that students from about a dozen Eastside and northeast L.A. schools participated. Students left their campuses between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. and convened together at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights at 11 a.m., before walking as a group to Los Angeles City Hall, where they demonstrated for about an hour.

"We as a community wanted to represent our culture and our cultura, and we wanted people to know that we have a voice. Students can rise up no matter what. We wanted to show unity in our community, and we thought we'd have a bigger impact if we united together," Ramirez said. Ramirez reports that teachers and administrators at Roosevelt High School and Roosevelt Magnet School were very supportive, and the principals of both schools came out to assist students.

According to Nancy Meza of Eastside Rising, which helped organize the walkouts, students organized the demonstrations "to demand L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis and LAUSD Superintendent Michelle King declare LA County a Sanctuary and create a plan that ensures their schools and communities will protect and support all individuals and communities being targeted by President-Elect Donald Trump’s White Supremacists, Patriarchal, Homophobic, Transphobic, Xenophobic and Islamophobic agenda."

Students from Mendez High School, Roosevelt High School, Esteban Torres High School, Garfield High School, Wilson High School, and Lincoln High School, among other schools, participated. An LAPD spokesperson told LAist that no arrests were made.