Student ICE protest timeline: Hundreds gather from the Capitol to John Moss building

The Abridged version:

• Students from at least 10 high schools across the Sacramento region organized a walkout and protest of ICE and immigration policies for Friday.
• Protests are expected to take place around the country Friday and into the weekend.
• School officials say students have a right to organize and walk out, as long as protests don’t “substantially disrupt the school environment.”

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This story was last updated at 1:40 p.m. as the student-led protest ended. For more coverage on schools, sign up for our Abridged morning newsletter here.

Final update: 1:40 p.m.

Some of the remaining students left the Capitol for Cesar Chavez Plaza, where more community protests were expected to start at 2 p.m. The later protest is separate from the one organized by regional high school students.

Update: 1 p.m., Friday, Jan. 30

By 1 p.m., students had left the John Moss Federal Building. Some went back to the Capitol, but crowds were thinning.

Update: 11:57 a.m., Friday, Jan. 30

By noon, there appeared to be roughly 1,000 people at the Capitol. Students spoke to the crowds through microphones and megaphones before beginning their 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.

“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.

Close to 40 law enforcement officers with the California Highway Patrol were scattered around the Capitol as a steady stream of protesters continued to arrive.

Standing on the steps of the Capitol, McClatchy juniors Faith Delgado and Zion Thomasson said they hoped the student-led demonstration carried a message beyond Sacramento.

“I am Mexican myself,” Delgado said. “It’s just really hard to see what ICE (is) doing to my people and I have to support (the protests).

“The amount of kids that are coming, like, I think it’ll show that we’re actually, like, fed up with ICE,” Thomasson said.

Sacramento City Unified School District board members were at the state Capitol. Trustees Chinua Rhodes, Jasjit Singh, April Ybarra and Michael Benjamin gathered while students spoke to the crowd. Singh said the leaders were proud to see their students exercising constitutional rights.

Update: 11:19 a.m., Friday, Jan. 30

Students arrive at the California Capitol

Hundreds of students began to arrive at Capitol Mall around 11 a.m. About a dozen law enforcement officers, some on horses, patrolled the building. Volunteers from NorCal Resist and 50501 Movement Sacramento greeted protesters and handed out whistles.

Hundreds more boarded the light rail station near McClatchy High in Land Park and rode to Archives Plaza to join the rapidly growing protest.

“We are the spark to melt the ICE,” one sign read. Adults from organizations and parents were there to greet them.

Students stood on the steps of the Capitol holding signs that read “protect our families,” “abolish ICE,” “Liberty and justice for all” and “It’s a Pretti good day to love your neighbor,” a reference to Alex Pretti, the man shot by federal agents in Minneapolis last week.

Students blew whistles they received from a NorCal resist table while volunteers plead with them to only blow the whistles if they see ICE. 

“We don’t want to scare our neighbors,” volunteers said.

Drivers passing by honked their support of the protest.

Update: 10:48 a.m., Friday, Jan. 30

Middle and high schoolers join ICE protest in Sacramento

Student organizers set up in front of C.K. McClatchy High School, giving directions to one another. In blue safety vests, they carry stacks of signs ready to distribute to their classmates. They began departing for the Capitol at around 10:45 a.m.

The process has been “frantic” and coalescing since Saturday, according to McClatchy junior Louis Russell.

“We have what we think is a really well-organized plan, and hopefully once we get to the Capitol, it’ll stay organized,” Russell said.

Planning has occurred in a group chat with students from at least 10 local schools, fellow junior Michael Heffron said.

As the high school leaders waited for their classmates to join them in front of the school entrance, a pack of middle schoolers from neighboring Cal Middle School marched by on their way to the Capitol.

Sacramento businesses close as part of ICE-related strike

About 20 Sacramento-area businesses closed at least partially on Friday as part of a general strike occurring throughout the country. The list includes:

• Mecha Mucho (2215 10th St., Sacramento)
• Mother (2319 K St., Suite B, Sacramento)
• Wild Sisters Book Co. (3325 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento)
• Frenzy Coffee (305 1st St., Davis)
• Tiferet by the Park (3020 H St., Sacramento)
• Delta of Venus (122 B St., Davis)
• Balance Coffee Shop (1004 24th St., Sacramento)
• Sunhouse Café (611 16th St, Sacramento)
• Jefitaz Menudo (5200 Stockton Blvd., Suite 135, Sacramento)
• La Mini Birrieria (2650 Northgate Blvd., Sacramento)
• Pipeworks (116 N. 16th St., Sacramento)
• Lola’s Lounge (2424 16th St., Sacramento)
• Neveria Y Fruteria Alberticos Ice Cream (5726 Watt Ave., North Highlands)
• Mabel’s Market (222 D St., Suite 1, Davis)
• Good Bottle Shop (2527 J St., Sacramento)
• East Village Bookshop (3604 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento)
• Bloodstone Books (3214 Riverside Blvd., Sacramento)
• Rocket Records (1002 24th St., Sacramento)
• Time Tested Books (1114 21st St., Sacramento)

Businesses open but donating some or all proceeds from Friday sales to anti-ICE groups include:

• Sapha Kafae (1331 O St., Sacramento)
• A Seat at the Table (9257 Laguna Springs Drive, Suite 130, Elk Grove)
• Magpie Café (1601 16th St., Sacramento)
• Casa Flores Café (1033 S St., Suite 110, Sacramento)
• Scorpio Coffee (1905 16th St., Sacramento)
• Café Immortal (1111 H St., Suite 102, Sacramento)
• Seasons Coffee Roasters (2420 N St., Suite 105, Sacramento)
• Superette Market (3216 Riverside Blvd., Sacramento)
• Kitchen428 Restaurant & Mojo’s Lounge (428 1st St., Woodland)
• I Love Pie Bakeshop (6241 Fair Oaks Blvd., Suite L, Carmichael)
• Offbeat Coffee (600 Broadway, Suite A, Sacramento)

Update: 9:30 a.m., Friday, Jan. 30

Hundreds of students to walk out to protest ICE

Students from at least eight Sacramento-area high schools are expected to walk out of class Friday morning before joining an organized protest at the state Capitol against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and federal immigration policies.

The protest is expected to include students from seven high schools in the Sacramento City Unified School District, as well as Florin High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District. The walkout is expected to begin around 10:40 a.m., according to school officials.

Demonstrations are expected around the country today in protest of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and the killing of two people by federal officers in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Andrea Egan, the principal of C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento, notified parents of the planned walkout this week.

“Students have a right to organize a walkout under the law protecting freedom of speech and assembly, but this right is not absolute,” Egan wrote. “Students also have rights to express their views in school, as long as it doesn’t substantially disrupt the school environment.”

Egan wrote in a Friday email to parents that “we have a plan on campus focused first and foremost on student safety.”

Sacramento City officials support but do not endorse walkouts

District leadership has “unwavering support” for the students protesting, according to Sacramento City Unified Board President Tara Jeane in a message to families Thursday. However, she drew a clear distinction that the activities were not planned or officially endorsed by the administration.

“Sacramento City Unified is responsible for the safety of all students on our school campuses. 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,” Jeane wrote.

“In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to make sure every voice is heard,” she added. “Our students and families should know that Sacramento City Unified stands solidly behind the safe exercise of First Amendment rights, as a fundamental component of education and life.”

Abridged will update this story throughout Friday. Savannah Kuchar, Daniel Hennessy, Benjy Egel, Denis Akbari, Martin Christian and Ryan Lillis contributed reporting.

Correction: A previous version of this story misplaced Offbeat Coffee on a list. It was open and donating funds on Jan. 30.