Students hold 'die-in' at Central Academy in Des Moines

Students at Central Academy in Des Moines had a "die-in" Monday to spark discussions about racism and police brutality in the United States.

"It enabled us to have that conversation about what's going on," said Cole Rehbein, senior at Central Academy and organizer of the "die-in."

About 50 students participated in the "die-in" at Central Campus, 1912 Grand Ave., during lunch Monday.

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The protest joined many others across the country in reaction to a grand jury's decision last week to not criminally charge New York City Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner.

Pantaleo put Garner in an apparent chokehold while trying to arrest Garner, who was unarmed, for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes July 17. Garner can be heard saying "I can't breathe" in a video of the arrest. He was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour later.

That decision came a little more than a week after a St. Louis County grand jury found that Darren Wilson, a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., should not be indicted in the death of Michael Brown.

Wilson fatally shot 18-year-old Brown during an altercation with the unarmed teenager Aug. 9. Accounts vary on what happened before the shooting — with some saying Brown was charging at Wilson and others saying Brown had his hands up in a sign of surrender.

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Rehbein and about 10 other students decided to plan the "die-in" at the school because of "the injustice of these cases" and to address "issues of national importance." Information on the protest primarily spread through Facebook and word-of-mouth, Rehbein said.

When the day came, about 50 students walked into the Central Academy lobby and lay down. The group continued to lie down for four and a half minutes to represent the number of hours Brown's dead body was left on a Ferguson street after being shot.

Other students watched the "die-in" and some even joined in, Rehbein said. He said he also heard students talking about the protest later.

Rehbein and other students formed the Central Academy Activism Network. This group will look at new and old issues, Rehbein said.

"This has gotten to be so much bigger than I ever imagined it would be," Rehbein said.