Countless students have decided to join protests and demonstrations against ICE agents in various states. It is quite common now to hear news of students performing walkouts. Inevitably, incidents occur when such large activities take place. Aside from some students getting arrested by police, there have also been clashes between adults who disapprove of these walkouts and the students. In Rochester, New York, you could watch as a man tried to berate students into quitting their protest.
In the video, which the man recorded himself, you could see him being drowned out by students who chanted, “ICE out.” In return, the man kept repeating for them to use their heads, believing that the New York students were misguided or had been fed misinformation. He insisted that the kids were being manipulated and that they were the future of the country, so they should not act like this. The students just kept chanting. He then pinned the blame on the Rochester school district, saying that they had been misleading students into protesting against ICE.
The whole video lasted around three minutes. During that time, the man began weaving a narrative about how ICE was keeping America safe and making sure that elections were secure by ensuring that immigrants were not interfering with the country. He then argued that the New York students should listen to him because he was an adult and that he would not mislead them, which apparently did not include the adults running the Rochester school district. The students simply yelled even louder to drown out his voice.
Internet users were disturbed by the interaction between the man and the New York students. Many found it inappropriate for him to record and speak to the kids in that manner. “Why is he doing that? Is he someone with inappropriate intentions, or just recording the kids’ faces for surveillance and tracking?” one user asked.
Some users wondered why conservatives were so supportive of ICE in the first place. “It’s really strange seeing ICE support by conservatives. The small government, Second Amendment, states’ rights, government is inefficient and incompetent, and ‘mind your own business, DC’ crowd seems to have completely reversed their own core values. They were strongly against the federal government operating internally, but this all became their new set of values once Trump got into power. It seems like it has influenced their lives heavily,” one Redditor wrote.
Others praised the New York students for not listening to the man and his arguments. “The kids are alright. This fills me with pride and hope. These young people know what side of history they want to be on, and it certainly is not siding with extremist political groups over their fellow people. All power to the people, continued pressure on authorities, and no justice means no peace,” one commenter said.
