US high school students stage mass walkout for gun reform
● Thousands say enough is enough ● Tribute paid to victims in Florida
declaring enough is enough, tens of thousands of young people from Maine to Alaska walked out of school to demand action on gun violence yesterday in one of the biggest student protests since the Vietnam era.
Braving snow in New England and threats of school discipline in places like Georgia and Ohio, they carried signs with messages such as “Am I next?,” railed against the National Rifle Association and bowed their heads in memory of the 17 dead in the 14 February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“We’re sick of it,” said Max- well Nardi, a senior at Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico, Virginia, just outside Richmond. “We’re going to keep fighting, and we’re not going to stop until Congress finally makes resolute changes.”
Around the nation, students left class at 10am local time for at least 17 minutes - one minute for each of the dead in Florida. At some schools, students did not go outside but lined the hallways, gathered in gyms and auditoriums or wore orange, the colour used by the movement against gun violence.
“Enough is enough. People are done with being shot,” said Iris Foss-ober, 18, a senior at Washburn High School in Minneapolis.
Some schools applauded students for taking a stand or at least tolerated the walkouts, while others threatened punishment.
Protesters called for such measures as tighter back- ground checks on gun purchases and a ban on assault weapons like the one used in the Florida bloodbath.
As yesterday’s demonstrations unfolded, the National Rifle Association (NRA) responded by posting a photo on Twitter of a black rifle emblazoned with an American flag. The caption read: “I’ll control my own guns, thank you.”
Walkouts interrupted the day at schools from the elementary level through college, and at some that have witnessed their own mass shootings. About 250 students gathered on a soccer field at Colorado’s Columbine High, while students who survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack in 2012 walked out of Newtown High School in Connecticut.
Students at several schools assembled on sports fields and arranged themselves into hearts, peace signs or the word “Enough”. At other schools, students spent the 17 minutes writing letters to lawmakers or registering classmates to vote.
At Eagle Rock High in Los Angeles, teenagers a moment of silence as they gathered around a circle of 17 chairs labeled with the names of the Florida victims.
In joining the protests, the students followed the example set by many of the survivors of the Florida shooting, who have become gun-control activists, leading rallies, lobbying legislators and giving TV interviews.
Meanwhile the former student charged with the atrocity refused to announce a plea yesterday so a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Assistant Public Defender Melisa Mcneill said Nikolas Cruz, 19, would plead guilty if prosecutors waived the death penalty, but they refused.