Muncie Central High School students held a walkout Feb. 6 to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A group of around 50 people marched to Muncie City Hall and back along N Walnut St. Students were outside for nearly two hours, chanting and waving to passing cars.
Muncie Central Senior Josiah Tramel was one of many students leading the group in chants, encouraging his peers. He said in the past month, he's seen upwards of 30 of his classmates move away or not come to class in fear of ICE.
It's because of this, and what he described as a lack of information amongst students his age, that he and his peers came out to protest.
“A lot of kids don't have any idea what's going on. We have TikTok, we have Instagram, but you [don't] understand how important it is until it's here with you,” he said.
Muncie community member Ivory Myers came to support her niece, who was one of the students protesting. She and fellow community member Elizabeth Swartzkopf, who was there supporting her daughter, agreed that they were proud of the students.
Myers said she is disappointed that the world she grew up in is not the one that her niece is currently living in, but hopes that this protest can incite change in the community.
“We’re ‘the land of the free’ for a reason … [students] should get to live in the world that we grew up in,” Myers said.
The Human Rights Executive Director for the City of Muncie, Shekela Bester, was protesting among the students. She said the students knew “at birth” that they had rights and added that she was proud of them for exercising their right to protest.
While Muncie Central students led the protest, Bester said she hopes that the Muncie community takes inspiration from them and “stands up” in the future.
“Don’t sit down. Don’t stop. Speak up, and don’t stay silent. Come on out here and join this fight,” Bester said. “... This is just the beginning.”
Muncie Community Schools (MCS) and Muncie Central Administration were outside the building during the protest, but did not follow the group as they marched. Chief Communications Officer of MCS, Andy Klotz, provided the following statement to the Ball State Daily News after the protest:
"For the relatively small number of students who participated in the demonstration, we’re glad they expressed themselves peacefully, and we’re even happier everyone went home safely. Students who were not excused to leave school by their parents or guardian[s] will face appropriate consequences as outlined in our Student Handbook. These consequences will be specific to each student based on their personal school history."
Tramel said he wants the community to know that he and his peers are ready to continue standing up for one another, adding that they’re “ready to fight against ICE.”
“Students are afraid to come to school. Everyone is in fear [for] their lives and that's not right,” he said. “America was built on immigration. America can't be America without stolen land, so who are we to say who can and who cannot be here?”
This story may be updated with more information as it becomes available. View the full gallery online using this link and watch NewsLink Indiana's full report using this link.
The Ball State Daily News Associate Visual Editor, Jessica Bergfors, and NewsLink Indiana's Managing Editor, Cameron Noe, contributed to this article.
Contact Brooke Follrad and Trinity Rea for comments at trinity.rea@bsu.edu or brooke.follrad@bsu.edu.
