'Several hundred' New York City high school students walk out of class to protest President Trump

NYC students walked out of school to protest President Trump.

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

published 7 February 2017

Students from high schools across New York City walked out of class Tuesday afternoon to protest President Trump. "Several hundred" high schoolers gathered at noon in Manhattan's Foley Square to voice their opposition to Trump's executive order banning people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., as well as "bigotry, hatred, and prejudice."

The rally, organized by 17-year-old Hebh Jamal, a high school student in the Bronx, started right as the Senate confirmed Trump's controversial nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, in a 51-50 vote. "Betsy DeVos was confirmed today despite her shameful inexperience and complete lack of understanding for the very job she seeks," one student at the rally said, per Gothamist. A student of Moroccan descent who attends Astoria's Young Women's Leadership School said she showed up to protest because Trump's immigration order is "clearly a Muslim ban." "If you don't make yourself heard, it looks as if you're accepting this," Rayan Hassounya told AM New York.