SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Several hundred protesters — joined by waves of high school students who walked out of class — converged on San Antonio’s Travis Park Friday for the “National Shutdown” demonstration, unleashing a barrage of attacks on ICE, the Border Patrol, President Trump, Israel, and even the city’s Democrat mayor before marching through the streets near the Alamo.
The protest was attended by hundreds of protestors, some sporting Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, dyed hair, costumes, body piercings, and vulgar signs as they listened to speeches critical of ICE, the Border Patrol, President Trump, Israel, billionaires, and even their own city’s mayor.
San Antonio Anti-Israel Protester (Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
The crowd of protesters was sharply augmented by hundreds of high school students who walked out of class to join the protest and listened to several speakers condemn ICE for separating families. Speakers equated the arrest of illegal aliens to kidnapping, saying the Trump administration is detaining people unlawfully in horrid conditions.
The speakers focused their rage on immigration enforcement issues, except for one featured speaker who rallied the crowd against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and alleged complicity by the military industrial complex in the United States in the genocide in Gaza.
Anti-ICE, Anti-Trump Protesters in San Antonio (Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
One speaker criticized San Antonio’s Democrat Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, saying, “The mayor says’ ICE needs more training, no, we need to abolish ICE altogether,” as the crowd cheered. The speakers rallied the crowd of residents and students with stories of the deaths of Rene Good and Alex Pretti, calling the deaths murders before the entire group marched through the downtown streets near the historic Alamo.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott weighed in on the issue of students walking out of public schools to attend a similar protest in Austin, saying, “I have directed the Education Commissioner to investigate this. AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach the subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest.”
Breitbart Texas observed the irony at Friday’s protest, where one protester, heavily masked to hide their identity, carried a sign that read, “Unmask ICE”. Another protester proudly carried a sign that read, “End ICE Violence, 86-47”, a message to end violence that encourages violence against the current President of the United States at the same time.
Other protesters wore costumes to express their anger, with one in vampire-like makeup and another in a mask and mariachi attire, waving the Mexican flag. Friday’s protest did not include as many inflatable costumes as seen in the past. Only one protester chose to wear the inflatable frog costume in the latest Alamo City protest.
Speakers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation at Friday’s protest thanked the hundreds of students who walked out of public schools to attend the event and praised other organizers by name that included, the Democratic Socialists of America, Indivisible, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), The Palestinian Youth Movement, 50501, and About Face.
San Antonio Park Police officers monitored the protesters and directed traffic as the group moved through the streets. Breitbart Texas saw no signs of violence during the event.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
