Cruz Visit To Bronx High School Canceled After Students Threaten Walkout

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife Heidi, arrive for a meeting with community leaders at the Sabrosura 2 restaurant in the Bronx borough of New York, Wednesday, April 6, 2016. (AP... Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife Heidi, arrive for a meeting with community leaders at the Sabrosura 2 restaurant in the Bronx borough of New York, Wednesday, April 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) MORE LESS
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Students at a Bronx, New York high school said they would stage a walkout rather than stick around for a visit from Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who they called “misogynistic, homophobic, and racist.”

Cruz was slated to visit the Bronx Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy on a Wednesday campaign stop, but the event was cancelled after students sent a letter outlining their concerns to the school’s principal.

“A group of students will be leaving during 4th period, as act of civil disobedience in regards to the arrival of Ted Cruz to BLCPA. We have all considered the consequences of our actions and are willing to accept them,” the letter read. “The presence of Ted Cruz and the ideas he stands for are offensive. His views are against ours and are actively working to harm us, our community, and the people we love.

The CEO of Lighthouse Academies agreed to cancel the visit after receiving the letter, school principal Alix Duggins told students.

“I believe that I would not have been able to get the visit cancelled without your actions,” Duggins said.

Destiny Domeneck, a 16-year-old student involved in the effort, told the New York Daily News that Cruz’s policies run contrary to the school community’s values.

“Most of us are immigrants or come from immigrant backgrounds. Ted Cruz goes against everything our school stands for,” she said.

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