The Abridged version:
- Students from at least 10 Sacramento-area schools helped lead a citywide walkout Friday, which fed into demonstrations at the state Capitol and John Moss Federal Building.
- The protests came in response to President Donald Trump’s escalating immigration enforcement and recent killings by federal officers in Minneapolis.
- The crowds at the state Capitol reached a peak of more than 1,000 people Friday around noon, before carrying over to the John Moss building. Beyond the student-led demonstrations, some local businesses halted operations and community members gathered at Cesar Chavez Park as part of a general strike occurring throughout the country.
Hundreds of students from Sacramento-area schools left their campuses Friday morning and headed downtown for organized protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Parents, educators and other adults joined the teenagers’ demonstration, which spilled across the lawn and front steps of the state Capitol before proceeding to the John Moss Federal Building. Elected officials dotted the crowd, too.
Protests have propagated in Sacramento, a sanctuary city, in response to immigration enforcement efforts in Minneapolis, where federal agents killed two people. Students in California’s capital city said they were out Friday in their own display of opposition.
“The amount of kids that are coming,” said Zion Thomasson, a junior at C.K. McClatchy High School. “I think it’ll show that we’re actually fed up with ICE.”
‘Frantic’ organization process
As second period wound down Friday morning, student organizers at McClatchy began assembling at the school’s entrance. The teens in blue safety vests carried stacks of signs and miniature bullhorns.
Planning for the protest began about a week prior, said McClatchy junior Louis Russell. The “frantic” process brought together student leaders from at least 10 area schools.
While waiting for the rest of their classmates, a gaggle of children from nearby California Middle School marched by, en route to the state Capitol.
“It’s really cool to see what students can do when they have the voice and … when they care,” said fellow junior Michael Heffron.
The group departed Land Park for the California Capitol around 10:45 a.m.
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Crowds amass at the Capitol, John Moss building
After arriving downtown via light rail, the students from McClatchy joined a sea of teenagers — sporting backpacks and hoisting colorful signs — in front of the state Capitol building.
Volunteers from NorCal Resist and 50501 Movement Sacramento were there to greet protesters and hand out whistles. (Some students blew the whistles immediately, to which volunteers pleaded with them to only do if they see ICE. “We don’t want to scare our neighbors,” volunteers said.)
About 40 officers from California Highway Patrol, some on horses, monitored the scene, as the crowd swelled to about 1,000 demonstrators by noon.
Students spoke to the crowds through microphones and megaphones. “We need to stay inspired and stay active long after this,” one speaker said. Another spoke about the United States being the land of opportunity.
Portions of the crowd peeled off to march to the John Moss Federal Building, which houses the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and has been a fixture in anti-ICE protests in Downtown Sacramento.
School leaders showed support
School board members were among the elected officials in the crowd Friday.
Sacramento City Unified Trustees Chinua Rhodes, Jasjit Singh, April Ybarra and Michael Benjamin commended student organizers while at the state Capitol.
“Our students are out here, and as board members,” Singh said, “we’re really proud of them exercising their constitutional rights.”
District leaders did not officially endorse the protests or have any hand in planning, according to a message from Sacramento City Unified Board President Tara Jeane Thursday.
“Sacramento City Unified is responsible for the safety of all students on our school campuses,” Jeane wrote. “We know our staff will be monitoring what they can as students leave campus, but they do not have the capacity to supervise the planned activities.”
Other demonstrations during the day
At least 20 Sacramento-area businesses were closed Friday as part of a general strike occurring throughout the country. Shops like Frenzy Coffee and Wild Sisters Book Co. announced on social media that they would be shut down for the day.
Others, such as Casa Flores Cafe and Offbeat Coffee, were open but donated some or all proceeds from Friday sales to anti-ICE groups.
As crowds at the student-led action thinned, a contingent of the protestors left the state Capitol and made their way to Cesar Chavez Plaza. There, a more multigenerational crowd was gathering.
To the constant chorus of honking cars, a crowd of a few hundred watched speakers and chanted things like “I believe that we will win.”
Denis Akbari, Martin Christian and Benjy Egel contributed reporting.