MIAMI — Thousands of people gathered in Parkland and across the country on Saturday to rally against gun violence.
In the Pines Trail Park Amphitheater, as widows, mothers, students and teachers told their stories, a crowd stood elbow to elbow below the stage. Some wept as speaker shared their experiences. Others chanted and cheered in support.
“Most people say they want assault weapons for protection, but those weapons are used for mass shootings,” Broward School Board member Debra Hixon told the crowd. “They killed my husband, Chris, along with other students within seconds. We deserve better.“
More than four years after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, where Chris Hixon was athletic director, and just two weeks after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the March for Our Lives rallies in Parkland, Washington, D.C., and across the country are calling for politicians to take a firm stance against gun violence.
March for Our Lives has its roots in Parkland. The organization was founded by Stoneman Douglas survivors. Four years ago, a mass shooter killed 17 people and wounded 17 others at the Broward County school.
On Saturday, more than 2,000 survivors, families, politicians and gun control advocates converged at the Parkland amphitheater. Many in the corwd held up signs saying “Vote For Our Lives,” “Never Again” and “Enough is Enough.” Others wore “Stoneman Douglas High School” shirts.
“Jaime Guttenberg , 14. Chris Hixon, 49. Luke Hoyer, 15 ...” said Parkland student Zoe Weissman, 16, the director of March For Our Lives for Parkland, reading the names of all 17 victims from the Parkland shooting.
Zoe was 12, and a student at a school across the street.
“I heard a scream. A scream of raw panic and fear. A scream of someone running for their life. A scream I will never forget” Zoe said as she told about running for her life, a tragedy she has said led to post-traumatic stress disorder since that time.
“Imagine this was your reality. ... Do you see why we’re angry?”
Zoe’s powerful and passionate speech led the crowd into a march around the perimeter of Pine Trails Park.
Voices from the Parkland rally
Sara Petersgil, 16, Pembroke Pines Charter High School student: “I’m done being scared going to school. And I don’t think it’s fair for me to be nervous that you’re not gonna walk out of the school. I’m done with it.”
Gayle Schwartz, gun ban advocate and Parkland family member: “The only ones who have the power to get gun reform is us, the voters. We are tired of politicians refusing to help our innocent students.”
Sheila Harvey, Pastor United Church of Christ with her 12-year-old Brandon Guillaume: “I have a 12-year-old and these shootings in public schools make me unhappy. It’s time to put feet to our prayer. It’s time to walk the walk and stop talking to talk. And that’s what we said on Sunday. And that’s what we mean. And so some of us are here to do that today. And we want change. We are we’re tired.”
———
