It was supposed to be 17 minutes of silent protest in honor of the 17 people killed last week in Parkland, Florida, in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
But on the south side of Chicago Wednesday morning, there was no silence as students who walked out of nearby Simeon Career Academy trashed a Walmart during their walkout protest.
Dozens of student walked out of Simeon at the appointed time of the protest, only to enter Walmart and knock over store displays and rip products off the shelves. Video of the aftermath shows aisles trashed and there is apparently surveillance video which police are using in an attempt to identify the perpetrators.
“We are very concerned by these allegations and we are reviewing the matter,” read a statement from a Chicago schools spokesman.
Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins, who Fox 32 says helped attract Walmart to the area, said, “We’ve worked too hard to try to get these national retailers here in our community. And this doesn’t help us. It makes no sense to tear up the community which you call home.”
According to reports, students identified by police will likely be charged with misdemeanors and face discipline from the school.
The incident, according to authorities, was carried out by between 40 and 60 students and lasted only a few minutes.
The south side of Chicago has seen a spike in murders in the last few years and is an economically depressed area.
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