Hundreds of students swarmed down the stairs after the bell rang for third period this morning to gather as a community to protest against police brutality. Students sat on the floor of the main entrance, crowding the halls and silently expressing their opinions about recent controversial events in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island.

Senior Skylar Mitchell and junior Ali Pete organized a “die-in” protest to raise awareness for the racial issues that have been dominating news headlines. The pair said they decided to organize the protest after noticing a lack of interest about current events pertaining to police brutality.

“Knowing that Whitman is a strong, connected community, we had the idea to work together and make this a known cause,” Pete said.

At the event, students sat or lay down in silence for 15 minutes to honor the lives of Eric Garner, who died after being placed into a chokehold by a police officer, and Michael Brown, who was shot six times by a police officer. Both victims were unarmed and neither police officer was indicted.

“Today we come together in remembrance of all the men and women who have lost their lives as a result of police brutality,” Pete said at the protest. ”Our program will be 15 minutes long. Eleven minutes for the eleven times Eric Garner said ‘I can’t breathe,’ and four minutes for the four hours Michael Brown’s body lay on the cold street.”

Mitchell said that she feels personally afraid and concerned about police brutality in the United States.

“The deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and countless others spark a visceral empathy that many people of color know all too well,” Mitchell said during the protest. “By virtue of being black and hispanic, there is a difference in how you are treated by the police in this country. That’s simply the fact.”

Sophomore Tash Maley, one of the participants in the die-in, said she thought the event was successful and very inspiring.

“I think Ali and Skylar did a really good job and the school really respected it,” Maley said.

Assistant principal Jerome Easton said he was pleased that students took action.

“I respect what is happening,” Easton said. “It is spreading awareness to students about what is happening in our society. Every now and then people have to get involved.”

However, not all faculty members were pleased with the administration’s decision to excuse students from class. Some teachers were angry about students missing class because they missed material or were planning on administering tests.

“If kids want to do this, they should be able to stand the consequences of missing class,” one English teacher said.

Students around the country have recently organized similar “die-in” protests. In one Missouri school district, students were warned that they would face consequences if they protested, according to the Huffington Post. Students at BCC staged a similar protest last week but were not penalized.

Overall, Mitchell said she was surprised by the large number of students who came to protest.

“It just really shows that Whitman does care, and we have a really great environment here that’s so conducive to student action and acknowledgement when somethings wrong,” she said.

During the protest, Mitchell explained that although this was only a small event, it can make a large difference.

“There are those who will say that us meeting today does little,” Mitchell said. “But to that we say that even a moment of solidarity is better than continued silence. We are clearly far from a post-racial America, but hopefully with open civil dialogue we can at least maintain a mutual respect.”

See the links below for other articles related to this controversial issue:

Click here for New York Times writer Mark Bittman’s article “Is It Bad Enough Yet?” which emphasizes the horrors of police brutality.

New York Times writer David Brooks poses a question few are asking in light of recent events: do we take for granted the lifestyle and mental agility demanded daily of police officers everywhere?

In this article, Charles Blow considers the idea that America is in no way a finished experiment, and we as a nation must now decide what path we are taking in the face of so many recent adversities.

Columnist Katrina vanden Heuvel points out a significant bias in our criminal justice system when it comes to indicting police officers; one which may lead to a renewal of the civil rights movement.

***Articles compiled by Gabe Kahan. Video by Naba Khan.***