Just before 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, more than 300 students and community members gathered at the Believe Plaza in downtown Reno.
Middle school and high school students from Washoe County schools joined a nationwide general strike and participated in a walkout to protest recent U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement actions in Minneapolis.
Students also wanted to bring attention to Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo’s 2025 veto of a bill would have denied federal immigration officials access to schools and student information without a warrant.
The killings of activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis, and ongoing rumors of ICE activity in the Reno-Sparks area have some students concerned for their own safety.
“As students, we don’t feel safe,” said Emiliano Gomez Meza, a junior at Wooster High School. “We can’t feel safe at school. We know that ICE can barge in at any moment.”
In conjunction with Washoe Walkout, an Instagram account run by two McQueen High School students, Gomez shared a post with protest plans and safety information about the districtwide walkouts. The post garnered more than 4,000 likes and more than 1,800 shares in two days.
Commenters on the Instagram post brought up safety concerns, legality and even accusations that schools were forcing students to protest. One of the students who organized the Washoe Walkout page, who declined to be named due to safety concerns, said the idea came from the students.
“My co-organizer and I heard about the general strike and the national shutdown,” the student said. “So we created an account, sent the flier around, got the word out to as many people (as possible).”
As word spread about the protest, the Washoe County School District shared its policies on the matter in a press release on Jan. 28.
“While WCSD understands and respects the purpose of these events, its first priority is educating our students without disruption to instruction,” the school district said. “In accordance with Nevada law, if students decide to participate in a walkout, they will be marked tardy or absent (depending on the length of time they are out of class).”
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, public school students can use their First Amendment right to protest and participate in walkouts, as long as the protest does not “disturb the educational setting” or risk the safety of the school and fellow students.
Said Gomez: “Our goal is to educate people and get them passionate about politics—get them passionate about making change so they believe they can make change.”
Community members also joined the protest. Organizations like the Holland Project and Coffee N’ Comics provided students with free snacks and drinks.