WASHINGTON - More than a million Americans flooded the streets of cities nationwide for emotional protests demanding tighter gun control on Saturday, in a march spearheaded by teenagers from a Florida high school where 17 people were shot dead last month.
"Politicians, either represent the people or get out," Cameron Kasky, a 17-year-old from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, told the crowd at a huge rally in Washington.
"Stand for us or beware -- the voters are coming," said Kasky, one of the leaders of a dynamic and passionate student movement which has emerged following the February 14 shooting at his school.
Large crowds also turned out for demonstrations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Seattle and other cities -- more than 800 in all according to the organizers of the "March For Our Lives."
Mayor Bill de Blasio said 175,000 people took part at the New York rally, tweeting: "These students WILL change America."
But the largest protest was in Washington, where organizers told NBC News the crowd was estimated at more than 800,000 people, the largest gun control rally in the United States since the Million Mom March in 2000.
The main stage for the event in Washington was set up near the US Capitol and lawmakers were the target audience as speakers delivered blistering warnings that the time has come for stricter gun laws.
"The people demand a law banning the sale of assault weapons," Kasky said. "The people demand we prohibit the sale of high-capacity magazines. The people demand universal background checks."
March organizers included a link for people to register to vote on their MarchForOurLives.com website as they seek to transform their nascent movement into a potent political force.
Republicans, NRA criticized
Signs carried by protestors lambasted lawmakers who oppose tougher laws and the National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful US gun lobby.
"These kids are right," said Jeff Turchin, a 68-year-old retired garment manufacturer who came to Washington from New York to attend the rally.
"They're basically saying the NRA is paying off these Republicans," Turchin said of the party of President Donald Trump, which also controls Congress.
The Washington rally kicked off with Andra Day singing "Rise Up" and also featured a performances by Jennifer Hudson, whose mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew were shot dead in 2008.
But the most riveting appearances were by the Stoneman Douglas students.
Emma Gonzalez, 17, took the stage wearing a green military-style jacket and ripped jeans and delivered a eulogy for the 14 students and three adults slain by 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz.
Tears rolling down her face, she then stood in silence at the podium for a full four and half minutes as the crowd fidgeted and some cried out "We're with you Emma."
"Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds," Gonzalez finally said -- the exact amount of time Cruz spent spraying bullets inside her school before fleeing.
"Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job," Gonzalez said. "Get out there and vote."
Yolanda Renee King, the nine-year-old granddaughter of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. brought many to tears with a surprise appearance.
"My grandfather had a dream that his four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," she told a rapt crowd.
"I have a dream that enough is enough," she said, referencing her grandfather's famous 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech on ending racism.
"And that this should be a gun-free world -- period."
'Killing our children'
In New York, former Beatle Paul McCartney showed up at a march and spoke of the December 1980 murder of his bandmate John Lennon.
"Every week you hear about a new shooting and nothing is done about it," McCartney told AFP. "But I think maybe after this something will be done about it."
On the other side of the country in Los Angeles, comedian Amy Schumer delivered a passionate plea in front of hundreds of thousands.
"You are killing children," she said, of the gun lobby. "And they call people like me 'Hollywood liberals' like there's something in it for us.
"Well, what's in it for us is knowing we're doing our part to keep our children alive."
Demonstrations of solidarity also took place around the world, including across cities in Canada, which unveiled stricter gun laws earlier this week including enhanced background checks.
In Scotland, some relatives of those killed in a school shooting in the town of Dunblane in 1996 attended a protest in Edinburgh.
Thousands meanwhile gathered in Parkland to pay tribute to those slain in the city on Valentine's Day.
"I March Because I Was Almost Silenced," read a sign carried by Samantha Mayor, 17, who was shot in the knee and wears a heavy brace.
Samantha's mother, Ellyn, held a sign reading "I'm Marching So No Other Parent Has to Hear 'Mom, I've Been Shot.'"
Trump was in Florida as marchers gathered in Washington but the White House issued a statement.
"We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today," it said. "Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the President's."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
People arrive for the March for Our Lives rally against gun violence in Washington, DC on Saturday. Galvanized by a massacre at a Florida high school, hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to take to the streets in cities across the United States on Saturday in the biggest protest for gun control in a generation
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON- Galvanized by a massacre at a Florida high school, hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to take to the streets in cities across the United States on Saturday in the biggest protest for gun control in a generation.
The student-organized "March For Our Lives" is to feature rallies from coast to coast, with the main event scheduled to take place in Washington within sight of the US Capitol.
"The kids are leading the movement," said Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, where 20 children aged 6 and 7 years old were killed in December 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida -- where 17 people were shot dead on February 14 by a 19-year-old former classmate -- have been the driving force behind the march.
With a mixture of outrage and passion, they have been relentlessly badgering US lawmakers to enact a ban on assault rifles and to expand background checks to cover all gun purchases, even private sales.
"The march is just the start," said Aalayah Eastmond, a 17-year-old junior who took shelter beneath the body of a classmate during the Stoneman Douglas shooting.
"Columbine happened -- nothing's changed. Sandy Hook happened -- nothing's changed. Parkland happened -- nothing's changed," Eastmond said.
"We will fight for this until change happens," she said at an event with members of US Congress.
Since the Parkland shooting, the state of Florida and the US Congress have made only modest tweaks to gun laws and President Donald Trump's proposal to arm teachers has been met with widespread resistance.
Organizers say more than 800 marches are being held across the country and around the world under the slogan #NeverAgain, with the Washington event alone anticipated to attract at least 500,000 people.
The protests are expected to be the largest for gun control in the United States -- which has more than 30,000 gun-related deaths a year -- since the Million Mom March in May 2000.
'ELECTORAL FORCE'
The appeals for stricter gun regulations have drawn the backing of Democratic lawmakers, and a slew of American celebrities have pledged $500,000 in donations to support the protests.
They include actor George Clooney and his wife Amal, a human rights lawyer, actress and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, and director Steven Spielberg and his actress wife, Kate Capshaw.
Performing at the rally in Washington are Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Platt, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Common, Andra Day and Vic Mensa.
The marchers have also attracted the support of former president Barack Obama, who tried but failed to reform gun laws following the Sandy Hook slaughter.
Obama and his wife Michelle released a letter to the "Students of Parkland" praising their "resilience, resolve and solidarity" and saying they have helped "awaken the conscience of the nation."
Former president Billl Clinton said America "owes its gratitude to the students of Stoneman Douglas and their peers across the country who have joined their cause."
Murphy, the Connecticut senator, told AFP the student-led movement needs to become an "electoral force, and this march may be the beginning of that."
Conscious of their growing political power, March For Our Lives organizers provided a link on their website for supporters to register to vote.
They have also called on supporters to vote against lawmakers who receive money from the National Rifle Association, the powerful US gun lobby that fiercely defends the Second Amendment's "right to bear arms."
"Either you stand with the kids or you stand with the NRA," said David Hogg, a Stoneman Douglas student.
Meanwhile, Lyft, the ride-hailing service, said it would offer free rides to 50 marches around the United States. Several restaurants in Washington said they would hand out free lunches to high school students.
Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, sent the American football team's plane to Parkland to fly the families of the 17 people killed at Stoneman Douglas to Washington along with injured students.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 63 percent of American voters approve of the march in support of tougher gun laws but are not optimistic it will lead to new legislation.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - Hollywood star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal on Monday pledged $500,000 to help fund a student march on Washington, giving a huge boost to what is considered an unprecedented youth mobilization against gun violence.
The "March for Our Lives" is scheduled to take place on March 24, with sister rallies planned across the country demanding that US Congress come up with effective legislation to address the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.
It comes after a 19-year-old armed with a semi-automatic rifle killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida last week, and is being organized by surviving students.
The teenagers, who have grown up with mass shootings at US schools, have vowed to make the tragedy a turning point in America's deadlocked debate on gun control.
"Amal and I are so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from Stoneman Douglas High School," Clooney said in a statement.
"Our family will be there on March 24 to stand side by side with this incredible generation of young people from all over the country," he added.
"In the name of our children Ella and Alexander, we're donating $500,000 to help pay for this groundbreaking event. Our children's lives depend on it."
'OVERWHELMED'
The pledge from the Clooneys, one of the biggest A-list couples on the planet, who announced the birth of their twins in London last June, comes after other celebrities have called for greater gun controls since the Florida shooting.
"We want to express extreme gratitude for the amazing donation that George Clooney and his family have made," tweeted the Never Again account representing survivors of the Florida shooting.
"We are overwhelmed with the support, and we can't wait to march."
US Congress is deadlocked on the gun debate, accomplishing nothing even after last October's killing of 58 people by a gunman in Las Vegas who had amassed 47 firearms to commit the worst mass shooting in recent US history.
The White House says President Donald Trump is supportive of efforts to improve background checks for gun purchases, but many want far more deep-seated reforms.
The students organizing the March 24 rally say they are fed up "waiting for someone else" to take action to stop the US epidemic of mass school shootings, and are demanding a "comprehensive and effective bill" in Congress to address gun violence.
"Politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns," their mission statement said. "Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear."
"Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future. Their young voices will be heard."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
