Thousands of Angelenos answered the call for a nationwide economic shutdown and general strike urging “No work. No school. No shopping” on Friday, including multiple Los-Angeles-based unions and advocacy groups. 

People of all ages protested at L.A. City Hall before marching roughly 5 miles around the city in a largely peaceful demonstration against United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its mass deportation campaign. By nightfall, however, a group of protesters clashed with police at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison which holds people detained by ICE. The Los Angeles Police Department arrested eight people, ABC7 reported.   

Dozens of businesses across the city either closed their doors or donated to support those affected by ICE’s actions on Friday according to the Los Angeles Times, but the call for a strike and shutdown produced a mixed response on campus.

The Daily Trojan confirmed that several instructors canceled classes, and that several students skipped classes, but many did not participate in the shutdown or strike. Dulce appeared to be the only on-campus business that shut its doors for the day. 

Friday’s demonstrations built on a general strike and economic shutdown called by University of Minnesota student groups. The call to action came after an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen who was protesting ICE in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. 

The protests were also part of an ongoing resistance to ICE’s presence in L.A. As protesters stood in front of City Hall, they chanted the name of 43-year-old Keith Porter Jr., who was shot and killed by an off-duty ICE officer in Northridge on New Year’s Eve, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

The protest began in front of City Hall at roughly 1 p.m., where three groups formed: one led chants such as “ICE out of L.A.;” another group featured people making speeches denouncing capitalism and imperialism; and a smaller group, on the opposite side of Gloria Molina Grand Park, danced to Latin American music curated by a DJ. 

Sofia Granados, a freshman from CSU Northridge who did not attend classes on Friday because of the general strike, made a speech about representation as a member of the youth and an immigrant family.  

“As the youth, sometimes we feel ashamed or scared to voice what we want to say and speak up,” said Granados, who majors in film, in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I was saying that there’s so many people here to support you, and there’s so many people listening.”

After leaving City Hall, the march passed through La Placita Olvera before crossing the freeway down E. Cesar E. Chavez Avenue into Boyle Heights. As the march made its way into the neighborhood, it passed several storefronts with neon green signs advertising the day’s strike. Local vendors and workers stood at their storefronts recording, some chanting along with the protesters.

“Sometimes it’s really hard to do protests and stuff, because I think there’s a certain amount of fear of the people who are not going to support you,” said a USC student who attended the protest but requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from their employer. “It was really nice seeing so many community members, not only want to be a part of it, but also [want to] celebrate.”

The signs that protesters held reflected a collection of different local organizations that attended the march. Participants ranged from the Los Angeles Tenants Union and the Party for Socialism and Liberation to the Writers Guild of America West and the Street Performers of Radical Komedy, a group of activist clowns. 

United Auto Workers Local 872 — a union representing USC graduate student workers — appeared to be the only organization from the University to formally attend the march, though several students also went as individuals.

“On the one hand, it felt encouraging to see how many people were willing to do that during their Friday — get out on the street and march,” said Pascual Brodsky, a Ph.D. candidate from the comparative studies in literature and culture program who attended the protest with Local 872. “But [it] doesn’t mean there’s any clear political direction.”

As the march came to an end at roughly 5 p.m., hundreds of protesters broke off and headed toward the Metropolitan Detention Center. Some people threw trash and bottles at an entrance where roughly a dozen police officers stood in riot gear and deployed tear gas, pepper balls and less-lethal rounds at the crowd.

Others returned to City Hall, where a band stationed on the back of a pickup truck created an impromptu rock concert. A crowd danced to the music as LAPD vehicles sped down a nearby street toward the detention center.