The Clovis Police Department filed a misdemeanor charge against a Fresno man, alleging he contributed to the Feb. 10 student walkout in which Clovis Unified students left school to protest ICE.
Alfred Aldrete, 41, of Fresno, faces a misdemeanor charge for “contributing to the delinquency of a minor.” Typical examples under California’s legal provision on parental liability usually include providing alcohol or drugs to minors or assisting minors in committing crimes.
On Feb. 10, approximately 200 students from multiple Clovis high schools walked out of their campuses during instructional hours and marched to the intersection of Clovis Avenue and Shaw Avenue to protest against ICE and President Trump’s deportation agenda.
Police identified Aldrete as an attendee at the student walkout and alleged he directed student activity and entered the roadway, which disrupted traffic flow, according to police.
Aldrete pushed back on the police department’s claim. “The only thing that I was doing was making sure that the cars did not drive through them while they were crossing the street,” he said.
A few days before the student walkout, some students from Buchanan High School held a rally after school near their campus.
Clovis Police also identified Aldrete as being present during the Buchanan student gathering on Feb. 5 that occurred outside of school hours, police said in a news release.
Aldrete told The Bee that he did not organize the protests or encourage students to walk out. As a co-founder of a local activist group Fresno Resistance, Aldrete received requests from the Clovis students asking if he could volunteer at the protests to ensure students’ safety.
Aldrete said he only learned of his misdemeanor charge after a Bee reporter reached out to him for comment. He said he was not surprised that Clovis police would file charges against him. A patrol officer pulled him aside and recorded his ID while he was escorting students during the protest.
“I knew that there could be a possibility of them trying to come at me, especially since they were parading the police vehicle with the multi-camera, and they were discussing the use of the 500 cameras throughout the city,” Aldrete told The Bee. “This is just kind of re-heightening those feelings like pins and needles. But definitely we know what we were doing is backed by our constitutional rights.”
The Clovis Police Department said in a Feb. 11 statement it would use the city’s network of 500 surveillance cameras to identify the adults who attended the student walkout and pursue charges against them. Police observed multiple adults “actively encouraging, organizing, and facilitating students leaving school without authorization,” according to the joint statement by the police and Clovis Unified School District.
Police said Tuesday they concluded their investigation and submitted it for prosecutorial review.
“The Clovis Police Department recognizes the constitutional right to lawful protest and the expression of personal beliefs. Students and parents are encouraged to follow established school policies regarding attendance during the instructional day,” the police department said in a statement.
This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 2:24 PM.
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Leqi Zhong is the Clovis accountability/enterprise reporter for The Bee. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a Master’s degree in journalism. She joined The Bee in 2023 as an education reporter. Leqi grew up in China and is native in Cantonese and Mandarin.