“ICE out of Baltimore! ICE out of Minneapolis! ICE out of everywhere,” senior Oliver Wu ’26 shouted into a megaphone someone handed him. We, the people, repeated after him, moving as a unit through 19° weather and 13 mile-per-hour winds.
On January 30th, as protestors nationwide marched under the banner of “Ice Out,” a crowd of hundreds gathered in downtown Baltimore to demand an end to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions here.
And Friends students showed up. Over two dozen mostly Juniors and Seniors left school at 1:00 pm, and others trickled in later. Before leaving school, they met with Upper School Head Brandon Rogers and Assistant Principal Travis Henschen in the front lobby. The administrators left them with some words of advice as they set off.
“As a Quaker school, we support students’ right to participate in respectful and civil protest and to be agents for peace and justice,” Rogers had written in an email to students and parents ahead of the planned action.
Rogers and the Friends administration gave no pushback against students wanting to attend the protest; they only required parental permission to excuse them from classes.
The protest consisted of students, adults, and elders standing in front of the George H. Fallon Federal Building, listening to speeches from fellow citizens who shared stories of their encounters with ICE.
As they listened, the students spotted fellow high school students from Baltimore City College, Baltimore Polytechnic, and The Park School.
“I reconnected with a lot of friends I hadn’t seen in a while,” said Lara Hams ‘26.
Many professions and backgrounds were represented too: teachers, nurses, veterans.
Next, the crowd circled the federal building, where the Washington Post recently reported that ICE detainees are being housed on the sixth floor in cramped conditions. As they marched, protestors waved signs in the air – some with the faces of people killed by ICE – and shouted chants.
“The people. United. Will never be defeated,” the crowd called out. Many more chants ensued. “No ICE. No KKK. No fascists USA!”
Police and news helicopters hovered overhead, while passing cars honked in solidarity.
In the last 10 minutes of the peaceful protest, some conflict erupted. Baltimore City Police had been directing and blocking traffic in order for the protest to take place. At the end of the protest, when only around 30 people remained, the police tried to leave.
As they got into their police cars and drove down Hopkins Plaza, protesters flooded the streets, blocking the road.
Around five Baltimore City Police cars lined up, all of them blasting their sirens. Protesters in the street, screaming, flipping off the officers, and even got upset at other protesters on the sidewalk for not joining them in the street.
The officers stepped out of their cars, calmly telling protesters they could not block the street. Some protesters responded with vulgar words and gestures.
It took around five minutes for protesters to leave the street. Protest marshals held protesters back, allowing the officers to leave.
Many Friends students shared that they were “proud to be there” and that they felt inspired to be a part of change here in our own community.
