Marchers threaten to ‘vote them out’
CALLED into action by the student survivors of a recent school massacre, more than a million marchers yesterday rallied in a historic turnout across America to fight for gun control.
In Washington, a crowd of 800,000 cheered along Pennsylvania Ave as 20 speakers aged 18 and under, many who had lost loved ones to guns, turned their grief into a rallying cry for change.
It was one of the biggest protests in US history, exceeding the expected attendance of half a million for the nation’s capital, and reflected building grassroots momentum in place of decades of political apathy about America’s gun violence epidemic.
“When politicians send thoughts and prayers, we say no more! I say to politicians: get your resumes ready,” said David Hogg, 17, who has been one of the leading voices for gun control since 17 students and teachers were killed at his Florida high school on Valentine’s Day.
“Who here is going to vote in the 2018 election?” he asked, to loud applause. “If you listen real close, you can hear the people in power shaking.”
Many of the crowd – which was packed with families and drew attendees from around the world – waved signs denouncing the National Rifle Association and the politicians they support.
One of the rally’s biggest cheers was drawn by fellow Parkland student Alex Wind, who said: “To all the politicians out there, if you take money from the NRA, you have chosen death.”
There were more than 800 marches across the US and internationally, with tens of thousands battling freezing snow in Chicago, more than 150,000 protesting in New York and thousands in Los Angeles.
The message at the different rallies was consistent, with demonstrators vowing to vote out politicians who refuse to take a stand now on gun control.
Celebrities were out in force, with former Beatle Paul McCartney spotted near Central Park, saying he was there to honour his late bandmate, John Lennon, who was executed by a gunman outside his home in New York.
Among the big names marching in Washington were Kim Kardashian, husband Kanye West and daughter North, Charlize Theron and her mother and George and Amal Clooney – who along with Oprah Winfrey, helped bankroll the nascent movement. Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Common, LinManuel Miranda and Ben Platt performed for the crowd.
The latest polling reflects a growing appetite for gun reform in the US.