"We Voted For This Sh*t?!" — This Teacher's Teary Message After A School Graduation Was Disrupted By Nearby ICE Raids Is Going Viral
Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
In response to the heightened federal activity, anti-ICE protests have erupted across LA. Tensions have only grown since then, as Trump ordered 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city — escalating fear among residents, especially within the undocumented community, who is estimated to make up roughly 10% of the population in the nation's second-largest city.
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For Mr. Howie, a youth educator, paraprofessional, and behavior interventionist in Los Angeles, ICE's nearby presence impacted his school day, forcing his school into lockdown and allegedly disrupting a nearby elementary school's graduation. In a tearful, emotionally raw video that's since been viewed over 16 million times — more than the entire population of LA County — Mr. Howie documented his reaction to the unfolding events.
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"I can't handle this, y'all," he began, wiping tears from his eyes. "This is crazy, I didn't think this was about to affect me like this."
Mr. Howie recounted how an elementary school nearby was in the middle of its graduation ceremony when word spread that ICE was in the area. "They were having their graduation and there's helicopters in the sky," he said, holding back tears. "Most of these schools are predominantly Hispanic."
Soon after, he said, his own school went into lockdown. He said, "Our school goes on lockdown. Our principal, you know, tells us it's a drill, but we know it's not a drill... We got like a soft lockdown."
Panic quickly spread, he said, as he heard from a coworker that some parents ran from the ceremony out of fear of being detained. "You know, parents had to run out because they don't have papers, and they had to leave their kids because the kids do," Mr. Howie continued, sniffling.
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"What type of shit is this, yo?" Mr. Howie asked, visibly upset. "And then kids are freaking grabbing teachers and crying on their leg because they don't know if they're about to see their parents when they get home."
"What the fuck is this? And we voted for this shit?" he continued.
"Fifteen people just got picked up on Wilshire at the Home Depot on Wilshire, man. Oh, my God. This is not right. This is not right, yo."
While the school district later clarified that no ICE activity occurred at the elementary school graduation ceremony itself, agents were reportedly nearby — close enough to incite widespread fear. That day, 45 people were arrested in ICE raids in Los Angeles, including the nearly two dozen people at the Home Depot just a three-minute drive from the school. The confusion was enough to spark panic, and Mr. Howie's emotional video that followed.
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"This was just my raw, emotional reaction to the information given to me," Mr. Howie told BuzzFeed. "My school went on a 'soft lockdown' drill when they heard the news." He added that this wasn't the first time such fears have disrupted the school day this year.
"We hear helicopters, and our guard goes up to make sure we protect our kids while also not startling them too much when we are not imminently in danger," he said. "While it did not happen at my school, I just fear for these kids because it certainly could."
RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images
As a paraprofessional, he explained how ICE's presence only adds more strain to an already high-stress job. "I'm already there to guide, provide, and protect them every day," he said. "Today, for example, I went to school and my kid wasn't there, so I had to leave because I'm a 1-on-1. So if he's not there, I'm not there. I was told his parents were too afraid to bring him because of what's going on."
"Teachers are saying things like, 'I have papers and even I was afraid to come,'" he added. "This is all happening to people [whom] I have so much compassion for. This is a human thing."
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On social media, hundreds of thousands of people sent love to Mr. Howie and the communities impacted by the nearby raids. "Empathy is not something everyone has. Thank you for sharing," one top comment read.
"Time to stand together and protect our communities," another wrote.
"I can't imagine what these poor children are going through. This breaks my heart," another wrote.
On X (formerly Twitter), one post summed it up: "an elementary school having to go on lockdown because the government of the country they lived in is a perceived threat, this is so fucking evil."
As the video continues to spread, Mr. Howie said he hopes people understand the heart of the issue. "All I care about is the kids. This isn't political for me. It's personal. I see the faces of these kids every day and want them to know that I'm always going to show up for them," he told BuzzFeed. "This isn't about the 'legalities' for me. I just understand and can empathize with what it's like for an 8-year-old to go to school one morning and then never see their parent(s) again."
"I will always show up for them," he said. And finally, he had one last reminder: "We're all human and all got here the exact same way."
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