On December 12th, 2014, a group of students from Canyon Crest Academy walked out of their 4th period classes in protest of the shooting deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford III, and Tamir Rice. Students visited classrooms across campus wearing duct-tape over their mouths and carrying signs labeled “THIS IS WHAT SILENCE IS LIKE”. While the group started with only 6 students from a single class period, other students joined along as the demonstration proceeded. According to one organizer, “the group hit almost 100 people at its height.”
Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford III, and Tamir Rice were all African-American males shot and killed by white police officers in separate incidents. Widespread protest broke out across the country in response to the four deaths. Tensions were only only exacerbated when separate juries failed to indict any of the officers involved in three of the four incidents.
Michael Brown was shot on August 9th, 2014 by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown reportedly stole cigars from a convenience store before the shooting. Officer Wilson confronted him in the street and fired 12 shots at Brown after a physical altercation. Brown died at the scene.
Eric Garner died on July 17th, 2014 after a physical confrontation with police at Staten Island, New York. Garner was illegally selling cigarettes when Officer Justin Damico confronted him. After Garner broke the grip of the arresting officer, Officer Daniel Pantaleo put his arm around Garner’s neck and held him in what many allege was a chokehold that violated NYPD policy. Garner can be heard saying “I can’t breathe” multiple times. Garner died of a heart attack caused by the chokehold on his way to Richmond University Medical Center.
John Crawford III was killed by police on August 5th, 2014 at an Ohio Walmart after a 911 caller reported that he was brandishing a weapon. The weapon turned out to be a toy gun capable of only shooting BBs and pellets.
Twelve-year-old, Tamir Rice, was shot and killed on November 22nd, 2014 in Cleveland Ohio. A passerby called 911 after seeing Rice wield an Airsoft gun at a local park. The caller clarified that the gun was “probably fake” in the initial report. Officers Leohmann and Garmback arrived at the park and ordered Rice to hold up his hands. Rice reached for his waistband which caused Leohmann to fire at and kill him. It was later revealed that Leohmann was deemed unfit for duty and was “in the process of being fired” on the date of the incident.
The walkout protest at Canyon Crest Academy was organized and led by seniors, Estevão Macário and Jared Gaurano. “We got six of us from econ class had duct tape and signs and basically protested the non-indictments of [the officers who killed] Michael Brown and Eric Garner and also the deaths of Tamir Rice and John Crawford. All [were] black men who died at the hands of white police officers,” said Gaurano.
“[We tried] to raise awareness because I feel like our school doesn’t have a culture of protesting and needs a more activist side,” Macário added. “[It was] scary at first. People didn’t know how to react. People didn’t know how to react when we entered classroom with signs and duct tape. [Most of the times we were treated with] applause. Some teacher locked us out of a room but you gotta stick to your guns, not everyone is going to agree with your opinion so you just gotta stick through it”
The organizers of the protest did not seek approval from the school administration. “Before the protest I went up to Principal Mueller. I didn’t ask him for his approval; I warned him we were going to do it whether or not he would approve of it. He complimented that I didn’t ask him. He was cool about it,” said Gaurano.
“I was really satisfied [with the outcome]—I was really surprised with the amount of support we got,” concluded Macário. “We didn’t expect it at all. I felt that CCA proved that things that happen outside of our Carmel Valley sphere do matter and that we should take part and raise our voices.”
Joshua Bi is the Online Editor-in-Chief of Pulse Magazine.