Cole Ambrocente and his classmates can’t stop thinking about ICE aggression in Minneapolis.
“The young people, at least at my school, have been really antsy in class,” said Ambrocente, a senior at Urban School of San Francisco.
On Friday, they did something about it.
Despite repeated stories of Gen Z’s chronic isolation, San Francisco’s youth showed out by the thousands, walking out of class to lead a march from Dolores Park to City Hall as part of a national general strike protesting the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration enforcement officers. The strike, called for by University of Minnesota student groups under the banner “No work, no school, no shopping,” followed a Minneapolis protest last week that drew an estimated 50,000 in subzero temperatures. Dozens of San Francisco businesses closed their doors Friday in solidarity.
“We’re not willing to stay silent about this situation,” said Ambrocente, “and the walkout is a really powerful way of showing our mass in numbers.”
In addition to Dolores Park, gatherings were planned at UC Berkeley and Santa Clara University, and at Oakland’s Fruitvale BART station. College of San Mateo students planned to march to Central Park in San Mateo, and a solidarity event was organized outside Alameda City Hall.
Hundreds of high school students walked out to join the demonstration. | Source: Amanda Rhoades/The Standard
Friday’s closures involved a variety of businesses (opens in new tab). The Roxie Theater refunded tickets for what was to be a busy weekend. Touchstone Climbing shut all 17 locations.
Local internet service provider Monkeybrains gave its staff of 70 the day off. Remi Moehring, Touchstone’s assistant director of operations, said the company hopes customers “put the business closures — not just ours, but everyone’s — into perspective and see the bigger picture.”
Reid Marple, 30, is a sous chef at Hilda and Jesse, a North Beach restaurant that closed for the day. Marple said he could’ve done anything with his time off but chose to join the demonstration at Dolores Park to “witness this moment.”
“It feels good to be involved in something instead of just watching it,” he said.
Marple said he isn’t surprised about the escalating unrest in Minnesota as he’s been monitoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement since the start of Trump’s second term.
“Shit has been happening the whole time,” he said. “And it’s only been a year, and there’s three more left — at least.”
Theresa Appleton, 47, took the day off from running her nonprofit to protest.
“I hope that this is the end of all this craziness,” Appleton said of Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis. “People in our country shouldn’t be murdered in the streets. He had a right to carry that gun.”
Protesters Friday at Dolores Park. | Source: Amanda Rhoades/The Standard
The strike comes six days after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse. Pretti was filming officers with his phone when agents pepper-sprayed him and wrestled him to the ground; video shows that one agent removed a gun from his waist before another opened fire. Pretti’s death followed the Jan. 7 killing of Good, a 37-year-old who was in her car when she was shot by an ICE agent. Both were U.S. citizens.
‘Everybody deserves a home’
Several hundred students walked out of the Urban School and marched through Corona Heights to attend the demonstration at Dolores Park.
The students held their fleeces and hoodies, cans of yerba mate, and signs bearing slogans like “ICE agents are stinky losers.”
Lucy Sylvester, 17, helped organize the walkout. She said she was inspired to rally her peers after hearing that students at other schools were planning actions.
“I had a best friend in fourth grade who was deported, and I’ve never forgotten about that,” Sylvester said. “Everybody deserves a home.”
Urban School junior Ella Braverman said the rally is just the first step in a larger fight against ICE. As she spoke, passing cars honked in solidarity with the marching students.
“We don’t think the walkout is the end-all-be-all because it’s not disrupting the flow of commerce,” she said.
As the column of students streamed into the park, it merged with an ocean of other students and adults chanting, carrying signs, and cheering speakers on a makeshift stage.
Thousands thronged in the park as the scents of burning sage and marijuana mingled with the pounding of drum circles (yes, more than one), and the anxious tones of kids trying to find friends in the crowd.
Thousands join the demonstration at Dolores Park. | Source: Amanda Rhoades/The Standard
“Chinga la migra!” protesters chanted in unison.
Two young men atop the statue at the park’s peak waved a Mexican flag.
Fabian Saldana, a junior at Balboa High School, made the trek north to protest. Saldana said that while he might be marked absent, most of his teachers agree with his position.
“As a Mexican American with parents who have been deported previously, I believe it is my right to be here,” he said.
American flags, in both standard and inverted orientations, flew above the crowd. One adorned a sign that said, “They want 1939 Germany. Let’s give them 1789 France.”
David K., a tech engineer, snuck away from his desk to participate.
“I’m here to stand in solidarity with the rest of the people in the country who are fighting tyranny and oppression,” he said. “It’s gone a bit too far.”
Looking out over the crowd, he said he was inspired, though not surprised, by the turnout.
“We’re at a turning point,” he added. “The more people out, the better.”
Katherine Douglas, owner of the Noe Valley running shop Running Wylder, said the events in Minneapolis made it clear that closing her store Friday was the right move.
“Everything that’s going on in the country right now is pretty terrible,” Douglas said. “I think our spending power is the most powerful tool that we have. So by not utilizing it, hopefully we send a message.”
Across the bay, hundreds gathered at Fruitvale Plaza in Oakland. Tenysa S., who asked to withhold her last name because she didn’t tell her employer she’d be in attendance, stood with her 10-year-old. The fifth-grader clutched a sign that read “Fund schools” and reached out the other palm for a coin to throw into a nearby fountain.
“You have to wish for something anti-fascist,” Tenysa said.
Demonstrators gather at Fruitvale Plaza in Oakland. | Source: Morgan Ellis/The Standard
Bay Area elected officials said they have not seen any indication that there will be a federal immigration crackdown ahead of next week’s Super Bowl in Santa Clara. On Thursday, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie told the Chronicle (opens in new tab) that recent conversations with NFL officials and federal agencies indicated no surge of agents; Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen added that he would expect to be notified ahead of any imminent ICE operations.
Douglas said she hopes the strike prompts people to be more intentional about where they spend money.
“I just hope that it helps people be more aware of where their dollars are going,” she said.