Hundreds of thousands of protesters participated in “March For Our Lives” rallies around the globe. The largest rally, in Washington, D.C., with an estimated 500,000 -800,000 marchers, were followed by marchers in Berlin to Paris to London.
In Parkland, Florida, home of the Marjory Douglas High School where 17 people were killed on February 14, 2918, the crowd numbered in the tens of thousands. Similar marches took place in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and New York City, to name a few of the over 800 locations.
At the rally in Washington, there were speeches by survivors from Parkland, Newtown, and the Pulse night club.
But the speech that everyone is talking about, as Reuters wrote:
There were sobs as one teenage survivor, Emma Gonzalez, read the names of the 17 victims and then stood in silence. Tears ran down her cheeks as she stared out over the crowd in silence for the rest of a speech that lasted six minutes and 20 seconds, the time it took for a gunman to slaughter innocent children and teachers at her high school.
You can watch her complete speech at the end of this post.
The following is a roundup of noteworthy news coverage, political statements and tweets on Twitter:
White House Statement: The White House said keeping children safe is a top priority for President Donald Trump.
In a statement, White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters said:
“We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today.
Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the President’s, which is why he urged Congress to pass the Fix NICS and STOP School Violence Acts, and signed them into law.
Additionally, on Friday, the Department of Justice issued the rule to ban bump stocks following through on the President’s commitment to ban devices that turn legal weapons into illegal machine guns.”
Marco Rubio Statement: U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement regarding today’s March for Our Lives protests throughout the nation:
“I commend those who today are peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights to march in favor of a gun ban. While I do not agree with all of the solutions they propose, I respect their views and recognize that many Americans support certain gun bans. However, many other Americans do not support a gun ban. They too want to prevent mass shootings, but view banning guns as an infringement on the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens that ultimately will not prevent these tragedies.
“While protests are a legitimate way of making a point, in our system of government, making a change requires finding common ground with those who hold opposing views. Common ground is how we were able to achieve the STOP School Violence Act, improvements to our background check system, propelling CDC studies on gun violence and now, a ban on bump stocks. And finding common ground is what it will take to pass our red flag law so we can take guns away from dangerous people.”
New York Times: March for Our Lives Highlights: Students Protesting Guns Say ‘Enough Is Enough’
Demonstrators flooded streets across the globe in public protests on Saturday, calling for action against gun violence. Hundreds of thousands of marchers turned out, in the most ambitious show of force yet from a student-driven movement that emerged after the recent massacre at a South Florida high school.
NBC News: At March For Our Lives, survivors lead hundreds of thousands in call for change
Marjory Stoneman Douglas senior Emma Gonzalez stood silent, with tears streaming down her face, on a stage in front of thousands at Saturday’s March For Our Lives.
After listing the names of the 17 people killed when a gunman rampaged through her school on Valentine’s Day, Gonzalez asked the crowd to fathom how so many could be murdered in only 6 minutes and 20 seconds.
And then she stopped speaking.
Silent minutes ticked by. Then an alarm beeped.
Fox News: On day to ‘march for our lives,’ rival rallies and competing views
As March for Our Lives rallies advocating for gun control unfolded across the nation on Saturday, some cities saw dueling events staged by pro-gun activists.
The state capitals of Utah and Arizona saw supporters on both sides of the issue, though the size of the pro-gun rallies appeared to be markedly smaller.
About 500 pro-gun advocates in Salt Lake City rallied for stronger schools and more armed teachers as they marched to the state Capitol building. Later on, about 6,000 protesters fighting for stricter regulations on guns were seen walking the same route
Breitbart: March for Our Lives D.C. Unfolds as Anti-Trump, Anti-Gun, Get-Out-the-Liberal-Vote Rally
The thousands of people who took part in the March for Our Lives protest along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, on Saturday carried signs revealing their anti-gun, anti-Trump, and pro-left wing agenda.
The event was launched by students at the Parkland, Florida high school where 17 people were shot and killed last month by a former student with a long history of mental health issues and run-ins with law enforcement. But in a matter of days, left wing and gun control groups hijacked the march and transformed it into a turn out-the-liberal-vote rally.
CNN: George Clooney, Paul McCartney and more celebrities join March for Our Lives
On stage and in song, on social media and in silent participation, several celebrities showed their support for the student organizers behind Saturday’s March for Our Lives.
Yahoo.com: Emma Gonzalez leads a moment of silence at the March for our Lives rally in D.C. to observe the time it took for a gunman to take 17 lives last month.
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