A second wave of high schoolers in Muncie followed in the footsteps of a nationwide movement, protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Around 40 l students from Burris Laboratory School and Indiana Academy walked out of class Feb. 17 and marched to the intersection of W Riverside Avenue and N McKinley Avenue.
RELATED: Muncie Central High School students hold a walkout over ICE
Students stood on the corner of the intersection, chanting and holding signs. Many read the sayings from their phones. Indiana Academy Junior, Julia Rogers, led the crowd in both chants and movement.
“We are in a country, in a world where your voice has power. Even if you think that the timing is wrong [or] that it's performative, no matter what, protesting is and will always be something that is important,” Rogers said.
This protest was organized by the high school students. Lasting around a total of 30 minutes, the group walked through the center of the Quad.
“I was afraid no one else was going to show up, and that people didn't share the same beliefs. But when you come out, and you protest and people join you, you see that you have power in your voice,” Rogers said.
Some Ball State students heard about the gathering and showed up in support.
“I’m asked all the time, ‘Why do you keep fighting if there's such a big threat?’” Juno Velez, Ball State Freshman, said. “It's because I'm not going to let that threat pass on to their generation. I'm not going to let that anger, that fear, that terrifying feeling of being oppressed, taken away, or hurt lead [these high schoolers] because they deserve better than that.”
Contact Brooke Follrad via email at brooke.follrad@bsu.edu.
