(KRON) -- As a nationwide economic blackout is planned for Friday to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and the Trump administration by calling on people to skip work, school and shopping, a popular Bay Area rock climbing company is deciding to "stand with the people." Touchstone Climbing, a Berkeley-based fitness company with 18 climbing gyms across California, including yoga classes, issued a statement Wednesday on its website and social media. The company wrote, "All Gyms Closed Friday, 1/30. We stand with the people of Minneapolis and with our employees. We are closing as part of the national general strike in opposition to ICE and the violence, fear, and harm they continue to inflict on immigrant communities and those who stand with them." Photo courtesy of TouchstoneClimbing.com. Touchstone Climbing confirmed that all of its hourly employees who were scheduled to work on Friday will still be paid despite the closure. "We do not make this decision lightly, but we no longer feel it is acceptable to remain silent in the face of these actions," added Touchstone Climbing. Touchstone Climbing, which started in 1995, boasts more than 25,000 followers on Instagram also has its own brewery, taproom and restaurant in Sacramento. Friday's economic blackout comes in the wake of several recent shootings involving federal agents in Minneapolis, including the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. ...read more read less