{"id":9273,"date":"2026-02-03T16:25:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/?p=9273"},"modified":"2026-02-03T16:26:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:26:41","slug":"ice-protest-draws-students-from-different-viewpoints-to-troys-quad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2026\/02\/03\/ice-protest-draws-students-from-different-viewpoints-to-troys-quad\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE protest draws students from different viewpoints to Troy&#8217;s quad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>TROY, Ala. (<a href=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TROJANVISION<\/a>) \u2014 A recent ICE protest brought contrasting viewpoints to the center of Troy University&#8217;s campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, students and community members gathered around the fountain on Troy University&#8217;s campus to protest recent actions by federal immigration authorities and raise awareness about national concerns surrounding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The demonstration was organized by student Bea Barrier, who said the protest was inspired by increased conversations about federal agents\u2019 presence across the country. The walkout also came on the heels of Renee\u00a0Good\u2019s death, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, who was killed in Minneapolis Jan.\u00a07\u00a0when an ICE officer fired into her vehicle as well as the death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Barrier said he wanted to use his voice to stand up for what he believes is right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no lawful order,&#8221; Barrier said. &#8220;They don\u2019t even give people a chance to identify themselves. They walk up to someone just because of how they look and detain them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019ve seen so many videos online, and no one seems to be doing anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>After seeing Barrier\u2019s message online, several others decided to join the cause, including healthcare worker Haley Morgan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2026\/02\/02\/nu-theta-mock-debate-night-heats-up-patterson-hall\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>MORE FOR YOU: Nu Theta mock debate night heats up Patterson Hall<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cI work in health care, so the killing of an ICU nurse hit close to home,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cThat could\u2019ve been me if I was caught in the wrong situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Around 50 students walked out of their classes and gathered around the fountain, holding posters, engaging in conversations, and chanting together. Demonstrators could be heard chanting \u201cNo justice, no peace\u201d throughout the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Protester India Wilson said her faith played a role in her decision to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s really wrong,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cEven American citizens are being detained and harassed. I\u2019m a Christian, and I put a Bible verse on my sign about treating immigrants as native-born.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cIf we need to use our voice, we will,\u201d Barrier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Protest Opposition - TROY TrojanVision News\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7xpSYXYZtak?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Faith Merrill, a locally-known conservative influencer and sophomore political science major from Niceville, Florida, was on the quad during the protest.\u00a0Merrill clarified she was not at the walkout to counter-protest, but to interview students for\u00a0the\u00a0media outlet \u201cOff the Record USA.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Merrill expressed her opinion of ICE and the deaths of Good and Pretti.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very pro-ICE,\u201d Merrill said. \u201cI&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;think&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;okay to have illegal immigrants here raping our women and bringing in drugs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to Alex Pretti and Renee Good,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;tragic, I&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;want anyone to die. At the end of the day, if you are obstructing a federal officer, things are going to happen.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After interviewing students, Merrill described how some of her conversations unfolded.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI could scroll on TikTok for 30 minutes and find this exact protest,\u201d Merrill said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0all a bunch of one-liners.\u00a0They like to bring up the fact that ICE\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0have warrants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I\u00a0bring up\u00a0the fact that ICE has administrative warrants.\u00a0No one knows what that is here.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0basic ICE knowledge. Obviously,\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0bold enough to come out here and hold a sign. If you can hold a sign, you can tell me what\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0protesting. If you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0easy to make you look dumb, you\u00a0shouldn\u2019t\u00a0be out here holding a sign in,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0that simple.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The walkout lasted\u00a0roughly an\u00a0hour before students returned to class. The display of free speech concluded peacefully, with no disruptions.\u00a0University officials did not immediately comment on the demonstration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Authors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-rounded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/authors\/caden-walker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"834\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/IMG_0362-834x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7740\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.8144554594670604;width:120px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/IMG_0362-834x1024.jpg 834w, https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/IMG_0362-244x300.jpg 244w, https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/IMG_0362-768x942.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/IMG_0362.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caden Walker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-rounded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/authors\/simon-brown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/SimonBa-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7536\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.7998182231311066;width:124px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/SimonBa-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/SimonBa-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/SimonBa-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/SimonBa-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/SimonBa.jpg 1638w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Simon Brown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) \u2014 A recent ICE protest brought contrasting viewpoints to the center of Troy University&#8217;s campus. <\/p>\n<p>Around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, students and community members gathered around the fountain on Troy University&#8217;s campus to protest recent actions by federal immigration authorities and raise awareness about national concerns surrounding the U.S. Immigration and Customs&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"a-button\" href=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2026\/02\/03\/ice-protest-draws-students-from-different-viewpoints-to-troys-quad\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1127],"tags":[2812,2817,2440,2816,2815],"topics":[17],"class_list":["post-9273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-news","tag-troy-university-debate","tag-troy-university-ice","tag-troy-university-politics","tag-troy-university-protest","tag-troy-university-walkout","topics-troy-campus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9273"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9303,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9273\/revisions\/9303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9273"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=9273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}