Chants of “melt ICE” broke out in front of Courtland High School on Friday afternoon — and it had nothing to do with the lingering remnants of Winter Storm Fern.
Middle and high school students across Spotsylvania County walked out of class on Friday afternoon to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol operations currently unfolding across the U.S.
Over 100 Courtland High School students left the building around 1 p.m., holding signs and flags. They walked the perimeter of the main parking lot before congregating at the front of the building, where they chanted and danced to Latin music.
At 1:10 p.m., Principal Cliff Conway addressed the crowd with a megaphone telling students they need to “either come into the building and go to class or leave the property.”
By 1:15 p.m., the school’s front doors were locked and no one was allowed to enter or leave. About half of the gathered students left in their own vehicles or with parents. Deputies with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Department were parked at nearby Courtland Elementary School, and Courtland School Resource Officer Deputy Eaton assisted in keeping students out of the roadway.
A few students walked to the corner of Smith Station Road and the school entrance, holding signs and cheering at passing vehicles until after school was dismissed at 2:20 p.m.
Students at Riverbend High School also filed out at the appointed time with signs and chants.
At Chancellor High School, students gathered on the school campus to protest against the treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers by ICE and Border Patrol. As they did so, people in trucks drove around waving flags from Latin American nations and honking their horns.
A Free Press reporter attempted to interview students at Riverbend but was asked to leave the school grounds. A message to SCPS families on Thursday acknowledged plans for a student walkout and cautioned that “should students exit the building, they will be monitored by administration, and when reentering the building will be required to go through the Evolv weapons detection system again.”
