On Feb. 13, student walkouts in Los Angeles became a bit of a horror show as several federal agents were injured in clashes with a mob mixed with students and community members. The mass of protestors had made their way to the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center and started “throwing objects at law enforcement.”
As appalling as it is, this act of mob violence should not be totally surprising. The combination of hundreds of unsupervised youths marching through city streets with a clear villain as a target is a recipe for disaster. While the vast majority of K-12 walkouts over the last couple of weeks have remained peaceful, there are warning signs that they may not stay that way.