by Alex Lloyd Gross
About 250 students from Swenson Skills Center marched from their school to the intersection of Roosevelt Blvd and Red Lion Road and caused the southbound outer and partial inner lanes to be closed for a brief morning protest.
The students were protesting against ICE. At first, they stayed on a gas station parking lot. Then they moved to the street in spite of the efforts of police and school officials to keep them contained. When one vehicle went around the police barricade, the students swarmed the car . The occupants of the car were in support of the students.
Eventually,the kids took over the street, which caused traffic to be diverted. A lot of the kids were carrying signs, denouncing ICE. Then the chants that contained a profanity were sung in unison. Some of the student protesters were flipping off cars, while carrying signs that said “XXCK ICE” .( We are covering the word but the first two letters are FU).
Motorists have no idea what the protest is about , they only see a few kids giving them the finger, so they gave the finger back. At the height of the protest, the inner lane was taken over , which forced police to eventually work on close the entire intersection,.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo Delaware Valley News.com Protestors surround a car that broke through police barricades on Roosevelt Boulevard.
Not all of the students outside were protesting. A few said they were just there to get out of class. Still others could be seen going to a fast food spot close to the intersection. Shutting down traffic is an age old tactic used by protestors that accomplishes nothing.
The idea is to get neutral people and people that do not agree with you to go onto your side. When you cause them delay from their lives , ( going to work, doctors, errands, etc”) they only get mad at the people closing the road.
Eventually, school the administration sent people to the intersection and ordered the kids back to school. They had a police escort back to school, as Red Lion Road was closed. The protest lasted about 40 minutes. Police sources said they had an inkling something was going to happen. Police cars were stationed at Red Lion and Roosevelt Blvd. before the protest.