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JARED STRONG
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

March 30, 2006


About 150 Hispanic Marshalltown middle and high school students protested federal legislation that would make it a crime to be in the United States illegally or to offer aid to illegal immigrants.

Marshalltown school district officials said about 70 high school students came to class Wednesday but left about 9:45 a.m. between classes.

"It seemed like there was some kind of organization about it because they left the school at passing time, and they left peacefully," said Donna Walker, the school district's communications director. "Whatever the punishment is for skipping school, they'll be subjected to that."

Walker said high school students will be punished with an hour and 45 minutes of after-school suspension, and about 10 middle school students will receive a full day of in-school suspension.

Walker said about one-fourth of the 1,550 Marshalltown High School students are Hispanic.

Marshalltown Police Chief Lon Walker said the students marched to the courthouse after leaving school where they spent most of their time protesting. The students dispersed about 2 p.m. after returning to high school grounds.

"We were very tolerant yesterday. There were a lot of arrests that could have been made," Walker said. "Right now we don't have any indication there's going to be another one of these."

Walker said the city has an ordinance that requires prior notice for any type of parade. He said if students march again, they'll be told to disperse.

"I had probably 10 officers commited to this for 4 hours yesterday," he said. "We're just not going to do that again."

The protesters carried signs and flag poles with the Mexican flag flown above the United States flag. Walker said he didn't know what the signs said because they were in Spanish and he has no Spanish-speaking officers. He said Marshalltown citizens were most upset by how the flags were flown.

"One of the things that has really upset things in this town is that they had the American flag under the Mexican flag," Walker said. "From a flag protocol standpoint, you just can't do that. But I don't think it was intentional slight – the kids didn't understand that."

About 40 non-Hispanic citizens showed up as counter-protesters. Despite profanities being shouted back and forth between the two groups, Walker said the only physical altercation of the day came when students threw two water bottles at one of the counter-protesters' trucks. A small shoving match ensued, but no one was injured.