“General Strike, Shut It Down” — BHSECM Students Walkout In Protest

Sammy Meskill ’29

Walking to the J train, many BHSECM students felt the cold creeping in. Even in 13 degree weather, many chose to protest at Foley Square. On January 30th, 2026, protests against ICE sparked a national shutdown. People stopped going to work. Stopped going to school. Stopped shopping. Protests were happening all over the country, particularly in Minneapolis.

These protests are in response to the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Good, a poet and mother, died on January 7th. Pretti, an ICU nurse, died on January 24th. They were killed at the hands of federal agents. There has been much debate about what happened and who must take legal responsibility. Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, condemned Trump’s immigration crackdown and the killings of these two people. Speaking to the press on January 25th, he stood in protest to Trump and his administration: “What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state? If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation. We are tired, but we're resolved. We're peaceful, but we'll never forget. We're angry, but we won't give up hope. And above all else, we are clearly unified.” Whereas, on January 30th, in a post to his Truth Social, Donald Trump gave the idea that Pretti was justly killed: “[a]gitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist, Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces.”

Many students at BHSECM chose to protest Trump, his administration and the immigration crackdown, myself included. The walkout, directed by members of the YAI (Youth Activist Initiative), occurred at the end of seventh period, 2:40 pm. Students walked to the Delancey/Essex Street station and promptly boarded the J train. Arriving at Foley Square around 3:30, students merged with the protestors, chanting “General Strike Shut It Down!” and “Ice Off Our Streets Now!” Speakers urged the crowd to contact government members, sing, and lead chants.

Though the day was a very cold one, the air felt warm with passion, anger and the screaming voices of protestors. People held banners for hours without gloves and screamed themselves hoarse, showing how much they want the current regime to change. The protest felt very empowering — to see all of these people expressing feelings of rage, despair and sadness together, gave me and the people protesting hope, a very important thing to have in today's world.