March 24 marked the March for Our Lives, in which rallies throughout the United States have called for changes to current gun control and security laws in response to the Parkside shooting, which claimed 17 lives. Over 500,000 people from cities like New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland are expected to march.
What happened?
As mentioned before, the event had been organized by the student survivors of the Parkside shooting; at the time, Cameron Kasky, an 11th-grader, gave the following statement while on “This Week,” according to ABC News:
“People keep asking us, ‘What about the Stoneman Douglas shooting is going to be different, because this has happened before and change hasn’t come? This is it.”
“People are saying that it’s not time to talk about gun control. And we can respect that. Here’s a time. March 24th in every single city. We are going to be marching together as students begging for our lives.”
“This isn’t about the GOP. This isn’t about the Democrats. This is about the adults. We feel neglected and at this point, you’re either with us or against us.”
Many speakers and performers were set to appear at the March for Our Lives protest in Washington D.C. According to Time, this includes Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, Demi Lovato, Vic Mensa, Ariana Grande, Common and Andra Day, as well as Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt, who also developed an anthem for the marchers.
According to CNN, White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters issued the following statement, essentially serving, for some, as the White House’s official response to the event:
“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.”
“Michelle and I are so inspired by all the young people who made today’s marches happen. Keep at it. You’re leading us forward. Nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change.”
As this story is developing, more information will be updated as made available.