Sacramento students poured onto the steps of the state Capitol on Jan. 30, chanting against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid outrage over recent fatal shootings in Minneapolis. Organizers from C.K. McClatchy High School kicked off planning on Jan. 27 through social media posts, expanding the event from a single-school action to a districtwide demonstration.

Students skipped classes after second period, hopping on light rail to the Archives Plaza stop before marching to the Capitol. Coordinators shared detailed maps via social media for safe navigation from each participating campus.

“This is a peaceful walkout demonstration to show that the students in California’s capital do not stand with ICE,” McClatchy High junior Michael Heffron, a key organizer, told The Sacramento Bee.

Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education President Tara Jeane notified parents that the district neither organized nor endorsed the protest. “Sacramento City Unified does not organize or endorse student protests; we do respect the rights of students to participate and freely express themselves in a manner that is both civil and safe,” her notice stated.

At the Capitol, crowds swelled quickly. Students delivered speeches condemning immigration enforcement, urging peers to stay vocal against what they called unjust separations of families. Speakers repeatedly directed the group to interact calmly with law enforcement, including California Highway Patrol officers present in plain clothes.

Chants of “ICE out now!” and “Keep them out!” echoed across the plaza. A small group of counter-protesters responded with “Come here legally or not at all!”

Adults joined in large numbers. Pastor John Haug of St. John’s Lutheran Church protested near the John Moss Federal Building. “I feel good supporting the youth, who have the right of every citizen, which is to use their voice for what they believe in,” Haug said. He carried a sign reading “Youth can make America have heart again” and praised the students for invoking their constitutional rights.

Many onlookers held signs silently or remained anonymous, using only first names or covering their faces to evade police or media attention. Kurt, a local veteran who declined his last name, voiced strong support. “I was excited to hear about our youth leading this effort to lend their voice to let them know about Donald Trump and ICE, all of those who are involved with this incredibly cruel effort to strip away our rights and dignity of our neighbors,” he said. “This is not the country I enlisted and fought for.”

Community members distributed water, snacks and handmade signs with anti-ICE messages to sustain the crowd. Margot, 28, a veteran community organizer, handed out supplies. “I’ve been a community organizer for years and I am really frustrated by our local and state government are not taking the measures that they need to right now to protect us from the onslaught of federal enforcement from ICE,” she said. This marked her first student-led walkout, though she had attended many others.

Student organizer Louis Russell told Brown Issues news the action stemmed from “outrage of the regime of terror that ICE has instituted over our nation.” He added, “We want to show the people of America that the young people of Sacramento will not sit back and do nothing when our democracy is threatened.”

The protest stayed peaceful throughout, with no reports of arrests or clashes. It highlighted growing youth activism in Sacramento against federal immigration policies intensified after the Minneapolis incidents.