Students sang, rapped and chanted. They huddled together and had a moment of silence. They called for change.
It’s been 18 days since Anthony Thompson Jr., a 17-year-old student at Austin-East Magnet High School, was shot and killed by a police officer in a school bathroom. In the days since, students and community members have banded together to repeatedly ask for police reform.
For Austin-East students this week, the demonstrations took the form of daily school walkouts at 3:15 p.m. to mark the approximate time Thompson was shot April 12. Students stood outside the school building, wearing shirts and carrying signs in remembrance of their classmate.
Austin-East students take police reform demands to downtown Knoxville
Austin-East Magnet High School students took their protests from school hallways to the halls of government, marching Tuesday from East Knoxville to the City-County Building downtown.
The students, like many community members over the past two weeks, demanded police reform after the death of classmate Anthony Thompson Jr. The 17-year-old was shot and killed by an officer during a chaotic confrontation inside an Austin-East bathroom on April 12.
“We don’t feel unsafe because of the students, but because of the officers,” said Arianna Bailey, a junior.
She and Shakayla Blair, also a junior, said they are haunted by the sight of officers with rifles inside their school that day.