After fifth hour on Friday, Feb. 6, around 40 Lafayette students missed two classes to participate in a student-led walkout down Clayton Road in protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its activities.

“Citizens being shot on the street, families ripped apart and children being detained isn’t normal. We’re normalizing violence in this country to an unhealthy extent, especially under this administration,” senior Alastair Hanna said about his motivation in joining the walkout. 

This walkout, along with those of local high schools such as Marquette, Kirkwood and Webster Groves, comes amid a string of protests nationwide in response to the January ICE shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Leading up to Lafayette’s student-led walkout, on Friday, Jan. 30, a National Day of Protest and Shutdown occurred across the U.S. to oppose ICE operations following the shootings in Minnesota. Activists encouraged citizens to participate in “no work, no school, no shopping” strikes. 

A group of students organized the Instagram page @iceoutlafayette, where they planned the walkout in protest of ICE “[invading] homes unlawfully” and “[deporting] innocent people.”  

Lafayette administration was notified of the walkout through word of mouth and established consequences if students chose to participate. 

The day before the protest, Superintendent Curtis Cain sent out a message via StudentSquare warning students of the consequences of truancy.

Citing the Rockwood Student Handbook, Cain wrote that students who skip class for the non-school-sanctioned walkout will be subject to attendance policies, including ineligibility to participate in athletics or activities that day or the weekend.

While Cain described the Rockwood School District’s “commitment to civil discourse” and “respect [of students’] First Amendment rights,” he clarified that, due to safety risks, Rockwood “does not sanction or authorize a walkout of any kind.”

Despite these risks, many students still chose to exercise their right to protest. 

“It wasn’t hard for me to decide [to go] mainly because doing whatever we can to help and protect each other is so much greater than any punishment the school would have given us,” sophomore Zoe Faw said.

Students created signs to carry with them while they marched down Clayton Road. In red, white and blue lettering, protesters wrote phrases such as “ICE out” and “Shame on ICE.”

“My sister, [freshman] Mollie Martin, and her friends made 18 posters. I’m very proud of her,” senior Logan Martin said.

The group walked out peacefully to the intersection of Clayton Road and Strecker Road and then returned to Lafayette. Many of the students who participated felt immense joy in making their voices heard.

“The walkout was overall an amazing experience, but my favorite part was definitely the energy of the group. Everyone involved was going into it with love and compassion, and I think you could feel that in the air during the walkout,” freshman William Webb said. “Even though we were protesting awful things, we were also supporting immigrants and the idea of our melting pot country.”

Gallery • 19 Photos

Darby Morel

On Friday, Feb 6., a group of students led a walkout in protest of ICE. Among the protesters, senior Logan Martin yells a chant while holding a sign. "The problem isn't that ICE is deporting people, the problem is that ICE is not doing their job right," Martin said.

While the students protested peacefully, their intentions weren’t well-received by all locals. Hanna recalls the pushback from many of those driving by the protesters.

“[People] flipped us off, yelled obscenities, made comments about people returning back to their country and even threatened to shoot us,” Hanna said.

Those involved in the walkout were assigned after-school detention. While the students behind @iceoutlafayette said they “were unaware of” this potential consequence, the Student Handbook cites detention as a punishment for truancy.

With the consequence of ineligibility to participate in interscholastic activities on Friday, many of those who supported the cause decided not to attend the protest. 

Due to her role as assistant set head of Lafayette’s “The Addams Family” musical, junior Eliza Leabig opted to not participate in the walkout. This decision was devastating for Leabig as she heavily supported the cause.

“[Not attending] made me feel really bad, like I wasn’t doing enough to show my support,” Leabig said. 

But, Leabig still found a way to show solidarity for the cause: stickers.

“My friend made a bunch of anti-ICE stickers, so I wore one on my shirt the whole day,” Leabig said.

The stickers were a simple yet effective way for Leabig to display her support while maintaining eligibility for Friday night’s performance of “The Addams Family.” 

“I’m just proud of everyone who went. I think you have to be so brave to not only be truant and risk getting detention or in trouble, but to stand up for what you believe in. I think that’s so strong and important,” Leabig said. 

Still, the student body was split in support for the anti-ICE cause. 

At the same time as the anti-ICE walkout, an opposing demonstration assembled. Led by junior Brock Lovelady-Armstrong, students in favor of ICE gathered outside Lafayette’s library doors. While they originally planned to march across the street from the anti-ICE protesters, the pro-ICE group ultimately kept their demonstration on school grounds and dispersed quickly after.

“My goal was to shine light on the other side and not have one side be polarizing and dominant,” Lovelady-Armstrong said.

Per the Instagram page Lovelady-Armstrong organized for his walkout (@pro.ice.walkout.lafayette), he supports the deportation of “criminals and illegals.”

Lovelady-Armstrong shared that his movement had plenty of negative feedback from his peers, even ruining a close friendship.

“The anti-ICE people don’t seem to be very accepting,” Lovelady-Armstrong said.

A week prior to Lafayette students walking out of class, Clayton High School students organized their own anti-ICE walkout. Senior Stella Calsyn helped spread the word across her school.

“Our goal was to say something loud by having a bunch of Clayton kids skip class to walk out for this National Day of Action,” Calsyn said.

Clayton students walked to the St. Louis County Courts Building, wielding signs expressing their sentiment against harsh immigration policies.

“I really think we achieved the message of what it says for the kids at the school to be doing this walkout,” Calsyn reflected. “There are several posts about it like, ‘This is a number two school and all these great kids are skipping class to do this.’”

Calsyn added that ICE’s “aggressive practices” motivated Clayton’s walkout.

From Lafayette to Clayton, numerous groups of high school students across Missouri are rallying for the removal of ICE from their communities. These protests reflect a growing tension nationwide in response to increasing government presence and mass deportations. This new generation is making their voices heard and taking a stand for what they believe is right.