Hundreds of students walked out of their classes on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 2 p.m., to protest the nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown and ICE’s presence in the Boston area, and to stand in solidarity with Keith Porter, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, recent victims of fatal shootings by ICE agents. They marched to Brookline Town Hall, where they gathered with students from the Winsor School in Boston.
Organized by senior Cécile Van de Velde and Winsor senior Elizabeth Tucker, the walkout was advertised via social media and hallway flyers.“March with BHS and Winsor students against ICE’s brutalization, extrajudicial arrests and murders of immigrants,” an online poster stated. “In solidarity with Renée Good and Alex Pretti.”
Van de Velde addressed the hundreds of students who gathered in front of the STEM wing before leading the group down Cypress Street to Town Hall.
“By walking out here today, we are demanding immediate attention and visibility,” Van de Velde said. “We are showing Brookline and Boston that young people are furious and that we demand a change…We are showing that no administration can force censorship and silence if we find strength in numbers.”
Many students carried signs condemning ICE and the Trump administration with messages such as “It’s Time to Defrost,” “ICE = BAD” and “F*** ICE.” Another held a poster quoting popular Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, who recently denounced ICE at his Grammy acceptance speech for this year’s Album of the Year. “We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens,” it read. “WE ARE AMERICANS.”
Community members and students from both schools addressed the group in front of Town Hall. Winsor senior Nia Lawrence commenced the speeches.
“To us young people, The Winsor School, Brookline High and other members of our community, we must use our voices and be the change we want to see,” Lawrence said. “We are the generation that refuses to look away but stands up in the face of adversity.”
Junior Sophia Monopoli held a banner with glittery magenta letters spelling out, “WAKE UP.” She said that she had attended several similar protests with her friends and was enthusiastic that another was taking place locally.
“In class, we’re always learning about things that happened in history, but I want to know what’s happening right now, ’cause I haven’t heard anything,” Monopoli said. “We should be able to actually learn what’s going on, not what’s already happened. We can see [history] repeating itself.”
Susan Etscovitz, a 49-year Brookline resident, said she had been scheduled to speak at the walkout, but ultimately decided not to because “they had so many other wonderful speakers.” She described the national situation as “a time of great peril for many people.”
“We need to empower ourselves. We need to get on the bandwagon. We need to do everything we possibly can,” Etscovitz said. “We need to write, we need to march, we need to pull. We need to do everything we can, vote, to affect a better world.”
Senior Shanti Appavoo, a former speaker at the 2025 Day of Racial Reform and Solidarity, was one of many students listening to speakers from the Washington Street side of Town Hall.
“Even if this individual walkout won’t reach the administration, our presence shows students who are feeling scared and threatened that they have allies in their community,” Appavoo said.
Lawrence finished her speech as students arrived from the high school, chanting “We want justice, we want rights, we don’t want no f***ing ICE.”
“We want a world where no one has to wake up scared for their civil rights, a world where our differences make us stronger together and a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive,” Lawrence said. “This is the time to make it count. So stand up, speak out and fight.”
