T.C. Roberson High School students hold protest signs at a walkout on Tuesday, Feb. 17 on Long Shoals Road. Photo: Saga Communications/Pruett Norris
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Dozens of T.C. Roberson High School students took to Long Shoals Road today to protest ICE, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
The walkout took place around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17 as students, many of whom carried homemade signs and national flags, marched a mile and a half from T.C. Roberson High School to the intersection of Long Shoals Road and Schenck Parkway.
As they marched, the students joined in rallying cries like “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” and “F– ICE! F– Trump!”
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
A T.C. Roberson High School student runs down Long Shoals Road with a homemade protest sign.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
T.C. Roberson student walkout, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Long Shoals Road.
Garrison Barker, a sophomore at T.C. Roberson, carried an American flag. Barker said that the protest was organized around the ideals of American freedom.
T.C. Roberson sophomore Garrison Barker carried an American flag down Long Shoals Road.
“There’s a secret police in our country and we don’t feel safe,” Barker said. “We want to live. We want to be free. But we’re not allowed to, for choices that we can’t make. We can’t live our lives the way we want to in a country where that’s the one thing we have against everybody else.”
Barker estimated that between 150-200 T.C. Roberson students had joined the walkout.
T.C. Roberson High School students hold signs at the intersection of Long Shoals Road and Schenck Parkway.
T.C. Roberson students protesting at the corner outside of a nearby CVS Pharmacy.
T.C. Roberson High School students hold signs at the intersection of Long Shoals Road and Schenck Parkway.
Another sophomore, Jose Hernandes, called for the abolishment of ICE.
T.C. Roberson sophomore Jose Hernandes with a homemade protest sign.
“We are out here to protest for the abolishment of ICE and all the wrong that they’re doing in this country,” Hernandes said. “No one is illegal on stolen land. Nobody.”
As the students stood on the corner outside Biltmore Park, passing cars honked and waved in support.
Two 9th grade students, Lesly and Felicity, held a Mexican flag together.
T.C. Roberson 9th graders Lesly and Felicity held a Mexican flag during the protest.
“We’re protesting against ICE, ’cause this isn’t right,” Lesly said.
While most of the students remained on the street corner during the protest, a few groups split from the pack, continuing into Biltmore Park or attempting to enter a CVS Pharmacy, though under the eye of nearby police officers.
However, the bulk of the walkout remained on the sidewalk. One student handed out pins with the phrase “ICE OUT” stamped on them.
One T.C. Roberson student distributed pins reading “ICE OUT.”
The protest is the latest student walkout in recent weeks, following a protest at Asheville High School on Jan. 30.
T.C. Roberson High School students hold signs at the intersection of Long Shoals Road and Schenck Parkway.
T.C. Roberson High School students hold signs at the intersection of Long Shoals Road and Schenck Parkway.
T.C. Roberson High School students hold signs at the intersection of Long Shoals Road and Schenck Parkway.
T.C. Roberson High School students hold signs at the intersection of Long Shoals Road and Schenck Parkway.
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