A far-left activist group known as Dare To Struggle SoCal has been promoting school walkouts and urging minors to “rebel against” ICE agents in several West Coast cities. The group is encouraging high school students to confront Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while authorities search for two youths suspected of assaulting a federal officer.
The California Post reported the violent incident occurred outside the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center, where an ICE employee was struck by a rock and hospitalized after officers encountered a crowd of as many as 500 teenagers.
On Saturday, Bill Essayli, the U.S. attorney for California’s Central District, released images of the two alleged attackers and said they would be “criminally prosecute[d].”
According to the New York Post, Dare To Struggle SoCal seeks to dismantle ICE and halt deportations nationwide through direct action in Southern California. Organizers have reportedly used social media to circulate pamphlets calling for supporters to “melt ICE” and “smash the mass deportation machine.”
California state superintendent candidate Sonja Shaw alleged that teacher unions were also tied to the effort and criticized the use of minors as “pawns.”
One image posted by the group showed an officer holding a Taser alongside the caption: “This was one of the pigs who threatened students with Tasers at the federal building today. F*** DHS!”
Before Friday’s demonstrations, a flyer bearing the Dare To Struggle logo promoted a “national school walk out,” stating: “It is right to rebel against ICE.” The flyer listed six downtown-area schools and instructed students to gather at the “Federal Building by 2pm.”
After the protests, the group released another pamphlet claiming: “Across LA County over 500 students from 24+ schools walked out, defying hostile administrators, with about 10 schools around Downtown shutting down traffic and demanding freedom for the kidnapped an stop the deportations.”
The statement continued: “After moving speeches from the students, the crowd bravely confronted a handful of DHS agents outside the Metropolitan Detention Center.” It added: “The full day protest ended with celebration and dancing in front of MDC’s blocked entrance.” Another social media post warned, “BTW this will not be the last.”
Dare To Struggle SoCal—an affiliate of a national organization—also shared a Venmo account soliciting donations for participants whose vehicles were towed.
Its online mission statement reads in part: “We’re committed to standing with the people subjected to the horrors of the American nightmare.
“We go to the neighborhoods facing police brutality, ICE raids, poverty, and evictions, talk to people about the problems they face, and organize people in collective struggle.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said: “Two Federal Protective Services officers were injured, one in the hospital with concussion and the other with a cut over his eye.
“The rioters remain at large. Assaulting federal law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime. Secretary Noem has been clear: anyone who assaults or obstructs law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Law and order will prevail.”