Austin protests in solidarity with LA uprising
Austin, TX – Around 60 Austin students and community members held a noise demonstration outside the J.J. Pickle Federal Building on Monday evening, June 16, in solidarity with the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
The J.J. Pickle building, which has been used as an ICE detention facility, was blocked off by police and some windows had been boarded up. Tensions were high after a week of police brutality and arrests. Protesters still showed up to make their voices heard and demand a stop to the ICE raids and mass deportations being carried out by the Trump administration.
The crowd brought noisemakers, musical instruments and their loud voices to send a clear message to ICE, the police, and Republican lawmakers. They chanted, “Immigrants are here to stay, GOP go away,” and “Say it once, say it twice, we will not put up with ICE!”
Jules Lattimore of Austin Students for a Democratic Society was leading chants throughout the protest. Lattimore said, “We’re here in solidarity with the heroes in LA who are fighting back to protect their community and keep families together. We need to show Trump and Abbott that we plan to keep up the pressure until these deportations stop.”