The protests come just days after Border Patrol agents murdered Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was filming officers.
Just after 1:00 on Tuesday, January 27th, students at Lawrence’s two major public high schools, Lawrence High (LHS) and Lawrence Free State (LFS), walked out of class to protest ICE alongside hundreds of community members.
At LHS, protestors stood at all four corners of the intersection of 19th and Louisiana, holding signs which included statements like “No one is illegal on stolen land,” “ICE melts,” and “Fuck ICE.” The protest capped out at around 200 people. In all, over 100 LHS students marched around the perimeter of their school’s campus before joining the protest at the intersection.
In addition to those from LHS, students from Billy Mills Middle School, Liberty Memorial Central Middle School, and the Prairie Moon Waldorf School joined in the demonstration. Several KU students and faculty were also present, including many from KU SJP, who helped organize the protest. Members of Sanctuary Alliance, who organized the recent protest against ICE on Mass Street, handed out informational cards detailing the rights of the protestors.
During the Palestine Solidarity Encampment supported by KU SJP in the spring of 2024, students from LHS marched up in the dozens to stand against genocide, militarism, and repression. In an Instagram post, KU SJP called on the community to “return the favor” and stand in solidarity with the walkouts at both high schools.
Just as the events at LHS were unfolding, students at LFS took to the streets in protest, marching from Overland and Wakarusa to 6th and Folks. The high schoolers held signs which included messages like “we beat them in ‘45, we’ll beat ‘em in ‘26”, “Impeach Kristie Noam”, and “Don’t be an American idiot.”
The protest reached around 300 students and around 100 community members. KU student members of KU YDSA and KU SJP as well as members of local advocacy groups also showed up in support of the high schoolers. The Kansas National Lawyers’ Guild sent two legal observers to watch the protest.
Hours before the protest, prominent stochastic terrorist Chaya Raichik, the person behind the Libs of TikTok account, condemned Dr. Jeanice Swift, superintendent of Lawrence Public Schools, for acknowledging the walkout and notifying parents of school policy around such matters, warning of how public schools have become “left-wing indoctrination camps.”
Where Raichik sees indoctrination, we see the origins of correct ideas. Even with the presence of some less productive tendencies, like American patriotism and some young people approaching the situation with less seriousness than it was owed (see the sign which read “ICE is a dookie fart”), the impulse of hundreds of young people to mobilize in defense of their community represents a growing political consciousness in those who see their future being destroyed by fascism, imperialism, and other such machinations of capital – even if they don’t articulate it as such. We should support those who are coming of age who are reaching correct conclusions about the world around them.
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