On Thursday, February 6th, 2025, hundreds of students from Culver City High School joined together in a walkout to protest actions taken by newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump’s administration. More specific motivations included support for this country’s immigrants, civil rights, women’s rights, the trans and queer community, access to healthcare and education, and support for Palestine.
Students began the demonstration during lunch, at around 1PM, exiting through the open front gates of the high school. From there, the students paraded to Veterans Memorial Park and then to Culver City’s City Hall. Participants carried flags and signs to represent their causes.
Signs ranged from phrases like “Cage Trump Not Kids” to “No one is Illegal on Stolen Land” and “Seeking Safety is Not a Crime.” While marching, students chanted “Free Palestine” and “Education not Deportation,” among other slogans.
Awareness of the walkout was spread through a combination of word of mouth and a newly started Instagram account that quickly gained local attention. The first posts on the account gave information about the purpose of these protests and guidance to protest safely. Word spread quickly, as the account was shared among classmates.
The Instagram account, so prominent in orchestrating the protest, was created by two CCHS seniors, Ruby Shuler and Gabriela Enriquez. Although only days into Trump’s second presidency, they were moved to action by the speed and scale of policy change. Shuler explains:
“5 days of a Trump presidency, of Project 2025, has seen the dismantling of 60 years worth of civil rights legislation, the ending of affirmative action laws – now allowing for businesses to discriminate against employees on the basis of gender, religion, race, nationality, and sexuality, the firing of government workers disloyal to him, the challenging of protections for queer communities, ICE raids across California, the challenging of the 14th amendment in its assurance of birthright citizenship, the withdrawal from both the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, the banning of pride flags from government buildings, the allocation of 500 billion dollars in public funds to give to AI investments, the opening up of protected indigenous land in Alaska to rapid oil drilling, and giving the top richest men in this country direct control of the government.”
Identifying as a queer Latina woman, Enriquez says “To stay silent is to let my friends, family, and myself drown. … I refuse to stand with an administration that denies my people’s right to healthcare, safety, life, love, and joy.”
The protest was acknowledged by the school, with Principal Adrienne Thomas sending out an email in advance, expressing the school’s accommodations to students participating in the event. The email explained the precautions the school would take on that Thursday. Along with opening the school gates for the student protesters, Principal Thomas assured that the event would be monitored by staff for student safety.
“We appreciate your partnership as we navigate these challenging times together and reaffirm our commitment to providing a safe and welcoming learning environment for every student,” Thomas wrote.
Shuler and Enriquez confirmed the CCHS administration’s acceptance and support toward the protests. Enriquez described an encounter with an adult male interrupting the students and that Assistant Principal Hilaleh Hamad intervened to protect the students and ensure the situation did not escalate.
“Having her and the other counselors present made it so we all felt safe,” says Enriquez.
Enriquez also wants to make sure the walkout is not misunderstood, including by being seen as narrower in focus than was actually intended.
“For those confused, this was never just about immigration. Sure, that was a big focus, but we also wanted to address the harm being done to LGBTQ+ members, women, the environment, Black communities, and other marginalized populations in the U.S. and its occupied territories. This also includes Gaza, as the Israeli genocide of Palestinians is U.S.-funded,” she says.
“Violence in the middle-east is our concern,” Enriquez continues. “Their liberation is connected to ours, one cannot happen without the other.”
Enriquez and Shuler were concerned there was misunderstanding at the school board about the Palestine issue, in particular. “Do not conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism! The claim that the violence of the Israeli government is an attribute of Judaism itself is false,” says Shuler. “You should be ashamed if you try to pin this label onto our protest, reducing us to a hateful group, when we are simply trying to spread peace and love to our community and advocate against violence.”
When asked their opinions on their impressions of the protest, both Enriquez and Shuler were proud and happy with the turnout.
“It seems scary when you have never been a part of that sort of thing before, but I hope after our little walkout, more people feel more comfortable participating in things like these in the future, because it is becoming increasingly more detrimental to stay silent,” Shuler says. “I hope this protest demonstrates that we, the youth, care about what is happening in our world currently.”
The walkout ended around 3PM, when students dispersed from City Hall. It was a peaceful protest from beginning to end, without any significant public safety issues.
For future protests or civic events, the administration emphasizes that students be aware of the code surrounding absences. In accordance with California Senate Bill SB 995, middle school or high school pupils who are absent from school to engage in a civic or political event are limited to only one school day-long absence per school year. This observation was in Principal Thomas’ email statement and on the protest Instagram account to inform students.
