The Los Angeles Police Department issued a warning to students and parents after three consecutive Fridays in which students cut class and participated in raucous anti-ICE demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles — including a violent clash last week that left federal agents injured.
Teens last week were spotted burning flags, vandalizing buildings and throwing objects at cops, with one swinging a pole at officers in a scary confrontation in which one cop fired his taser. In another instance, rioters hurt two federal agents. Now police have said: enough is enough.
“School attendance is mandatory in the City of Los Angeles and there may be legal consequences for parents and students,” the LAPD wrote in a news release Monday. “It is unlawful for any minors under 18 to be in public places, streets, or amusement spots during school hours (typically 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.).”
The anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles have continued for three weeks, with local students cutting class to participate. ZUMAPRESS.com
A rally against ICE raids escalated into an altercation between federal police and students in downtown LA, Feb. 13. KTLAAuthorities said middle and high school students are permitted one excused absence per calendar year to participate in a “civic or political event,” but only in cases where there is advance school notification.
The department further warned that any adult who transports or assists a minor in participating in illegal activity could face charges for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
In a similar case last week, the Clovis Police Department said it plans to file misdemeanor charges against two adults accused of organizing a walkout involving more than 200 students in Fresno County.
Young anti-ICE protesters burn an American flag outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles on Feb. 13. ZUMAPRESS.comThe LAPD also noted that Los Angeles Unified School District policy states that three or more unexcused absences, or tardiness of more than 30 minutes, may trigger a School Attendance Review Board intervention.
The LAPD announcement comes just days after an agent with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement was sent to the hospital when high school students turned violent at an anti-ICE demonstration last Friday.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesman said rioters threw rocks that injured the federal agent during the chaotic protest, and video shows a teen wielding a pole against officers.
“On February 13, a group of about 200–300 rioters and agitators gathered outside an ICE building in Los Angeles. They threw objects, including rocks, at law enforcement. One ICE officer was hit in the head with a rock and was injured,” a DHS spokesperson told The Post.
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, a vocal critic of ICE enforcement, has instructed school police to intervene if ICE agents attempt to enter campuses and previously established what he called “perimeters of safety” around city schools for immigrant students.
Students protesting ICE allegedly engaged in damage of public property in downtown Los Angeles. ZUMAPRESS.com“We interpret those actions as actions of intimidation, instilling fear that may lead to self-deportation,” Carvalho said in the spring. “That is not the community we want to be. That is not the state or the nation that we ought to be.”
In a statement responding to the LAPD warning, an LAUSD spokeswoman said the district supports the “rights of our students to advocate for causes important to them.”
High school students who walked out of class to protest ICE have sparked concern for safety at demonstrations. AP“However, we are concerned for student safety at off-campus demonstrations, as schools are the safest place for students,” the spokeswoman said.
Students are “also allowed to participate in peaceful demonstrations on campus during non-instructional times, within parameters set by administrators,” she added.
LAUSD attendance on Friday was 92%, the same as the previous five days, according to the district. There are just under 400,000 students enrolled in LAUSD schools.
The student-led anti-ICE demonstrations have been concentrated in DTLA. AP“LAPD is putting students, parents, and schools on notice that skipping school is against the law. Adults who facilitate such activity can also be criminally charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Good,” wrote First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli on X in response to the LAPD statement, welcoming the public advisory as “good.”
The recent downtown protests are part of broader nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Earlier this year, Los Angeles and other parts of California saw intense anti-ICE protests following the killings of Minnesota residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
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