Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the state’s education commissioner to investigate Austin Independent School District (AISD) after students joined a nationwide walkout protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following two fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Abbott, a Republican, wrote in a Friday X post that school resources should not support protests and shared images of the students walking out with signs with police nearby.
The AISD wrote on X on Friday that it has been in “communication with parents regarding protests, including notifications once leaders learned about the possibility of a protest. This is not an Austin ISD event and any presence of Austin ISD Police is for the safety of students during the school day.”
Meanwhile, it’s unclear if an investigation will also be launched into the Waco and San Antonio school districts following similar protests.
Newsweek reached out to Abbott’s office and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) commissioner by email Saturday for more information.
Why It Matters
The coordinated wave of walkouts and street demonstrations follows the fatal shootings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis earlier this month, events that have ignited a national outcry.
Organizers behind the shutdown say the killings in Minneapolis, along with additional incidents in places such as Los Angeles and Chicago, have become a turning point in public anger over aggressive immigration enforcement.
Student groups, labor unions, civil rights coalitions, and community organizations say that federal agents are deploying aggressive tactics to “sow fear” in U.S. cities and that only a large‑scale economic and social disruption will force political leaders to act.
What To Know
Students walked out in Austin, Waco, San Antonio and other Texas cities on Friday, joining a nationwide action tied to a “National Shutdown” movement.
Abbott condemned the walkouts and said he had directed the Education Commissioner to investigate the protest in a post on X Friday, where he also shared images of students protesting.
“I have directed the Education Commissioner to investigate this,” Abbott wrote. “AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach the subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest. Our schools are for educating our children, not political indoctrination. This is one of many reasons why AISD is losing so many students.
Videos and images shared on social media show hundreds of students from two high schools in Austin, McCallum High School and Crockett High School, marching with protest signs.
In a letter to the school community, Austin ISD officials said the protests were not district-sponsored and that students who missed class were counted absent or tardy.
“We understand that this topic is sensitive and may elicit a range of emotions,” McCallum High School Principal Andy Baxa. “We want to assure you that we are committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for all students. Our primary focus is on maintaining a campus where everyone feels safe, respected and heard.”
New Braunfels ISD said students who participated would be marked absent and could face discipline for actions disrupting instruction or posing safety concerns, according to a report from The Texas Tribune.
At least two people were detained by Texas Department of Public Safety officers on state Capitol grounds early in the protest, but most of the demonstration and a subsequent march occurred without issue, the outlet reported.
What People Are Saying
Crockett High School student Joshua Garcia told CBS Austin on Friday: “It’s such an honor to do this because many people have been deported, and they don’t get to say anything.”
JP Campbell, one of the student organizers, told CBS Austin on Friday: “I think this is going to be able to signal that, hey, the future of this country does not want ICE. We want change.”
Austin LeRue, chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas, told CBS Austin on Friday in a statement: “YCT and our chapter at the University of Texas support and recognize the importance of ICE and the essential work they’re doing to keep the country safe. We believe that ICE must continue to be funded, supported, and used to uphold the rule of law in our nation. This is an exceedingly important position to maintain in Texas, where we have seen the devastating effects of mass illegal immigration on our country.”
Zenzi Griffin, University of Texas at Austin professor, told the Texas Tribune Friday: “I feel like I can’t just sit by, it’s time to act. A couple protesters got killed, but people are dying in detention, families are being ripped apart, and this is not the first time the U.S. government has attacked people in the same way.”
What Happens Next
While Abbott said the Texas Education Agency commissioner would investigate the Austin ISD walkout, a timeline and scope of any probe was not immediately clear.