In the days after Shawnee Mission North filled Johnson Drive to protest the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, four more schools in the district staged similar walkouts.
Students at Shawnee Mission East and Shawnee Mission Northwest high schools, as well as Indian Hills and Hocker Grove middle schools, have all walked out of school in the past week to protest the recent actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency under Trump.
This brings the total number of student-led anti-ICE protests in Johnson County in the past month to at least 11, with similar demonstrations by Olathe North, Olathe East and Shawnee Mission West and Shawnee Mission North.
Roughly 50 students at Spring Hill High School also protested ICE on Friday afternoon, student newspaper the Stampede reports.
After Tuesday, the only Shawnee Mission high school that has yet to see students walk out is Shawnee Mission South.
Hudson Terreros, one of the handful of SM East Lancer sophomores who planned Tuesday afternoon’s protest, said it’s important for a community like SM East to show support for immigrants against ICE.
“We thought since our school is mostly like, white, conservative, we thought if we were able to get a lot of people out and protest, it would show just how much we care about what is happening,” Terreros said.
Students at 3 schools walked out on Tuesday
Last week, roughly 75 Indian Hills students walked out and protested on the school’s football field for roughly 45 minutes, chanting “melt ICE” and carrying signs with similar messages.
On Tuesday, students at three more Shawnee Mission schools walked out of class: SM East, SM Northwest and Hocker Grover Middle School.
Students at SM Northwest walked along Quivira Road holding signs, according to the student newspaper The Northwest Passage’s Instagram story. Students at Hocker Grove in Shawnee walked down Johnson Drive to Merriam Town Center, according to a city of Merriam press release.
According to the city, “There were no safety problems … Law enforcement monitored the walkout and nearby traffic to keep students safe and minimize disruption.”
At SM East, more than 150 students walked out to protest ICE. Organizers who spoke to the Post estimated the final number participating to be more than 200.
Students largely stayed on school property, primarily the football field and the parking lots. Terreros and others led the group in a walk around the building on Mission Road and down 75th Street before returning to the football field.
A small group of about 15 counter-protesters, also SM East students, waved a Trump flag in a school parking lot near the football field. Others drove around the school. One student waved a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Terreros said he gave a speech to his fellow students on Tuesday, which reporters on the scene were unable to hear as they were required to stay off school grounds.
“When I came up there, I was scared, I was shaking, I was thinking it was going to go horrible, I was scared no one was going to show up,” Terreros said. “I look up, everyone is there, they’re all chanting, they’re all supporting. Once I was speaking, and I would stop every once in a while, everyone would clap. I felt like I did a good deed today.”
In his speech, Terreros said he spoke on ICE detention centers and about people who have been killed by ICE agents this year.
Porter Anderson, another SM East sophomore who helped plan the walkout, said he disagrees with negative comments he heard in advance of Tuesday’s walkout.
“It may not be a direct difference, but the more people that are protesting, the better world we have, I think,” Anderson said. “I think the more people that stand up for what they believe in, I think we have a better community. I don’t think we can get worse from that.”
SMSD student organizers say they’re not coordinating protests
Although students at four Shawnee Mission high schools have walked out over the past month — as well as in Olathe, Gardner Edgerton and Spring Hill — student organizers on Tuesday said they aren’t coordinated events.
Anderson said he and Terreros began planning SM East’s walkout after he heard from his younger brother about the protest at Indian Hills.
Terreros said school administrators were aware of the protest and helped keep the crowd peaceful on Tuesday.
A student who organized the protest at SM North previously told the Post there was no coordination between other schools and SM North about any of the protests.
Alex Harden, a sophomore at SM East who helped plan the walkout alongside Terreros and Anderson, said he hopes more students organize similar protests.
“For anyone in surrounding school districts, especially Shawnee Mission, they should be inspired, and they should make their own protests and walkouts, and they should speak out, ” Harden said.
“The new generation cares”
The organizers of the SM East walkout, who are all friends and largely communicate through a group chat named “Bruz Rakers” on social media, say they want people to know they care.
For Anderson, he said he wants people to know that largely white student communities like the one at SM East still stand up for issues that may not have a direct impact on them.
Landon Goodin, another SM East sophomore, said he realized through the walkout that it’s “more than just skipping class.” Goodin said it’s a sign that younger generations care about their communities, too.
Terreros agreed with Goodin.
“The new generation cares and they want to make the world a better place and want to make sure Gen Z, Gen Alpha are educated and ready to become the next leaders of America,” Terreros said.
Elijah De La Cruz, another “Bruz Rakers” group chat member and organizer of Tuesday’s walkout, said he was surprised by the number of students who showed up.
De La Cruz said he supported the walkout because he thinks some of ICE’s actions are unconstitutional. He said he is concerned that these actions are carried out with little oversight.
De La Cruz said he sees the United States as a country of immigrants, with most people coming from immigrant families — even if it’s a parent, grandparent, great grandparent or beyond.
“I think all of a sudden, we’re just trying to act like they’re what bring the country down, when I really think it’s the opposite,” De La Cruz said. “I think immigrants do a lot more than most U.S. citizens if I’m going to be honest.”
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