TAMPA, Fla. — Over a dozen of students from Wharton High School walked off campus Monday afternoon, waving signs and chanting for an end to ICE operations following recent fatal shootings in Minnesota.
"Say it once, say it twice, we will not put up with ICE," students chanted as they demonstrated after school hours.
Tampa Bay 28 reporter Annette Gutierrez has been covering ICE protests for weeks, and she is now following up on how students are getting involved and making their voices heard.
WATCH: Students protest ICE policies after school at Wharton High
Nicole Cochrin, a senior who organized the demonstration, said she believes student activism creates more attention and educates peers.
"Students making a stand creates a lot more attention - a lot more people know about it. And not only that, it educates students on how to get organized so they can help prevent stuff like this from happening again in the future," Cochrin said.
Junior Julien Rodriguez joined the protest, saying students must take action because their voices matter.
"We are the future generation so we do have to set up the right path for the state of our country right now," Rodriguez said.
Students said while they understand ICE's purpose, they don't believe the agency should be hurting people, especially after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
"No matter what the story is, people are dying because of this, and it's horrible," Rodriguez said.
Fellow junior Christopher Quinonez called the incidents an eye-opener.
"It's a wake-up call for everyone - we need to do something about this because the stuff ICE is doing is just inhumane," Quinonez said.
Cochrin originally created a flyer calling for an "anti-ICE walkout" but changed it to an after-school demonstration to avoid disciplinary action, because she said she can still get the message across after class.
"I do think it's very important that we still have students going to their classes cause school time is very important - education is the first job of revolutionary," Cochrin said.
This protest follows similar student activism at other schools. Last week, Gutierrez reported on how the Florida Department of Education responded to State Representative Danny Alvarez's accusations that Lennard High's principal organized a protest at that school.
When contacted about Monday's protest, a Hillsborough County School District spokesperson said the district does not approve of protests during school hours and warned of potential consequences.
"Hillsborough County Public Schools does not approve or promote protests during instructional time. While we want to ensure students retain constitutional rights for free expression, we also must make sure any such activity does not interrupt instructional time, school operations, or campus safety. Any violations are reviewed and addressed in accordance with our Student Code of Conduct. When appropriate, disciplinary actions are taken following established policies and procedures."
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