Students across the Chicago area marked this Friday the 13 with a series of school walkouts and protests against the Trump administration’s policies.
In Aurora, where there was a controversial clash earlier this week between police and protesters, the city today took a different approach and allowed the protests to happen with what they called a “withdrawn presence.”
Hundreds of students poured out of Aurora’s East and West High Schools around noon, each with a sign or a message they wanted their neighbors to hear.
One young protester said she was walking out to “represent people who can’t speak up or are two afraid to come out of their houses.
Another said she has seen people “ripped apart from their families.” She said, “people don’t deserve that.”
The two groups converged on the downtown area to chants of “ICE Out.”
The Aurora walkout, to protest the Trump administration’s deportation polices, was one of many in the Chicago area on Friday.
High schools in the city and the suburbs saw students participate in several walkout protests.
The events were not sanctioned by school authorities, and parents were warned that administrators would not be responsible for what happened to students if they left campus.
Friday’s walkout protests followed similar actions at suburban schools on Monday and Tuesday that drew thousands of students out of class.
The Chicago Public Schools issued a statement saying, “CPS remains committed to fostering learning environments that allow students to respectfully deliberate issues with evidence and an open mind – and safely participate in civic action.”
In downtown Chicago, students marched from a number of schools to the Federal Plaza for a protest in the afternoon.
In Aurora, Mayor John Laesch helped direct traffic downtown. The police in the western suburb took a more hands-off approach Friday after a video from the protest on Monday showed an Aurora police officer kneeling on a person on the sidewalk while another person is dragged by a different police officer just a few feet away in the video. Later, the video pans to show another person being held down on the sidewalk by several officers.
“We had a conversation with the chief of police last night to have a withdrawn presence, so they don’t become the target of this,” said Laesch. “We want students to be focused on keeping ice out of our community.”
The Aurora protest was for the most part peaceful. However, students and activists did react to man who tried to provoke the crowd by waving a Trump flag at the group. Water bottles were thrown, and the man eventually left the area. No injuries were reported.
25th District State Senator Karina Villa was among the protesters in Aurora. She said events like these will have an impact on the mid-term election.
“The people’s voice is going to be heard not only on the streets of Minneapolis, not only on the streets of Aurora, but across the nation,” she said.
Laesch said he would like to see fewer protests like these; not to restrict 1st Amendment rights, but to keep students safe and in school. However, organizers are already planning more walkouts.
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