Yesterday hundreds of thousands marched in cities across the USA and world to call for an end to the senseless mass killings. The demonstrations were organized by survivors of the Parkland School shooting.
The 19 year-old killer had attended Stoneman Douglas High School and the police had been alerted to his erratic behavior throughout 2016 and 2017 without being able to discover his true identity.
On February 14, 2018 Victor Cruz murdered seventeen students and wounded another seventeen with an AR-15.
An armed guard hid under cover.
More police arrived on the scene.
They remained 500 feet from the school.
The shooting went on for six minutes
Then he dropped the weapon and walked out of the school with the rest of the student body.
Cruz walked to a Walmart and drank a soda.
Police finally arrested him after a visit to McDonalds.
Seventeen dead.
Seventeen wounded.
Cruz was taken to the hospital.
The students of Stoneman Douglas High School had had enough.
At a rally in Tampa on February 17 Junior Emma Gonzalez criticized the ‘thoughts and prayers’ offerings of politicians supporting the NRA. Her fellow schoolmates formed the NEVER AGAIN movement.
They showed up at the Women’s rally in Washington.
The right-wing and NRA accused the students of being tools of the left wing.
“They are too young to have organized this.”
The gun culture of America was gearing up for a fight.
Old folks were instructed in use of a pointed finger.
Donald Trump greeted the survivors and suggested arming teachers with weapons to deter deadly attacks.
Fat white men got out of their chairs.
The head of the NRA called the students thugs.
The kids weren’t scared of these people who prefer automatic weapons to safety in schools.
On March 24 they gathered in the hundreds of thousands around America.
They marched in the streets, despite the federal government refusing them the right to assemble on the Mall. A talent show had the date reserved. They used no violence.
They joined with others.
Others joined them.
The police kept their distance.
Emma Gonzalez led the crowd in Washington in a six-minute long Moment of Silence.
The length of the shooting by Victor Cruz.
A blow against the gun culture.
“Since the time that I came out here, it has been 6 minutes and 20 seconds, The shooter has ceased shooting, and will soon abandon his rifle, blend in with the students as they escape, and walk free for an hour before arrest. Fight for your lives before it’s someone else’s job.” – Emma Gonzalez.
Guns kill people.
Never again one day soon.