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| Wednesday walkout: students step out of class to spur action on gun control – live | Wednesday walkout: students step out of class to spur action on gun control – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Booker T Washington high school in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King was a student, saw more than 100 students participate in Wednesday’s walkout. | |
| “Dr King carries a legacy even in death, so I feel as if it’s an obligation to carry on what he wanted and what he was trying to fight for and that’s why this day is very important,” said Markail Brooks, a student. | |
| Students were only permitted to walk out of their classes into the hallway and silently take a knee, so no action took place outside the campus. | |
| In an announcement around 9:30am, school officials explained that kneeling in the hallway was the approved form of participation and warned that “anything outside of that is not approved and you will receive swift and severe consequences”. | |
| The school went on lockdown “to promote safety and security” until the protests ended. | |
| For students at other schools who were not permitted to engage in any form of protest, Washington students had a message: | |
| “Fight. Fight, fight – our words matter,” said India White. “We’re the students of this school. We have a word because we attend this school, this is our home.” | |
| The “take a knee” gesture was a unique twist on the national walkout, but not a surprising one given the resonance the gesture has taken on in the black community. The high school is 99% black, according to department of education data. | |
| Former 49ers American football player Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem of games in 2016 to protest racism and police violence. | |
| Student government leaders told reporters that the knee was to “show respect” for students who have died by gun violence. | |
| Students at predominantly black schools often face a different gun landscape than those at mostly white schools. At BTS students pass through metal detectors and have bag searches when they come in. Three armed resource officers were overseeing throughout the protests. pic.twitter.com/0d4w1NPjAw | |
| Demonstrators gathered outside the White House and US Capitol in Washington DC to demand measures to prevent gun violence. | |
| Democratic lawmakers walked out in support of the student protesters and met with those crowded outside in the near-freezing weather. | |
| Hundreds of students on the west side of the Capitol where Democrats are about to walk out of the Capitol. They’re chanting “No more silence. Stop gun violence.” And “what do we want? Gun control. When do we want it? NOW.” pic.twitter.com/BxXwoXjNId | |
| Democratic lawmakers are cheered as they walk out of the US Capitol. Crowd chants “We want change.” Some lawmakers chant the message back. pic.twitter.com/SAC4hLQmYJ | |
| The Resistance Now | |
| The Guardian is covering the people, action and ideas driving the protest movement in the US in our series, The Resistance Now. Sign up for weekly email updates about activism and protest. | |
| Students have been demonstrating against gun violence in Chicago, where it is nearly 10.30am. | |
| Chicago Public School principals aren’t supposed to be involved in protests, but some school have changed class schedules today to accommodate the walkouts. | |
| About 80,000 students at 200 Catholic schools plan to assemble in prayer, staging discussions and making signs promoting peace that they’ll hang around schools and parish properties, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago. | |
| At Theodore Roosevelt College and Career Academy, dozens of energetic students chanted “Good kids, mad city / we’re under attack / what are we going to do / fight, fight back”; “Sí se puede” [yes we can] and “Hey hey, ho ho, gun violence has got to go.” | |
| They then held a moment of silence, asking students to think about loved ones they lost to gun violence. The moment ended when community members arrived to support the students’ demonstration. | |
| Good Kids Mad City is a new collective of Baltimore and Chicago youth demanding just for victims of gun violence. They have coordinated protests in both cities. | |
| #GoodKidsMadCity pic.twitter.com/halWVPHVOr | |
| In the Baltimore Sun today, schools in the Washington DC and Maryland area signed onto a letter urging Donald Trump and Congress to enact stricter gun control measures | In the Baltimore Sun today, schools in the Washington DC and Maryland area signed onto a letter urging Donald Trump and Congress to enact stricter gun control measures |
| One of the schools to sign on to the letter, St Andrew’s Episcopal School, is where the president’s 11-year-old son, Barron, takes classes. | One of the schools to sign on to the letter, St Andrew’s Episcopal School, is where the president’s 11-year-old son, Barron, takes classes. |
| “As school leaders, we call upon everyone who cares about the education and the welfare of children to urge our government to act,” the letter said. | “As school leaders, we call upon everyone who cares about the education and the welfare of children to urge our government to act,” the letter said. |
| “We need our teachers to be able to teach. We need our students to be able to learn. And we need everyone in every school around the country to feel safe.” | “We need our teachers to be able to teach. We need our students to be able to learn. And we need everyone in every school around the country to feel safe.” |
| Richard Luscombe, who has been covering the school shooting in Florida and its aftermath, reports from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school: | Richard Luscombe, who has been covering the school shooting in Florida and its aftermath, reports from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school: |
| At 10am, about 3,000 students poured into the school’s football field, where exactly one month ago many were running for their lives. | At 10am, about 3,000 students poured into the school’s football field, where exactly one month ago many were running for their lives. |
| Principal Ty Thompson commended his students for their strength over the last few weeks and praised them for their #Never Again campaign for gun reform. | Principal Ty Thompson commended his students for their strength over the last few weeks and praised them for their #Never Again campaign for gun reform. |
| “We are going to make change. It’s already started,” he told them. | “We are going to make change. It’s already started,” he told them. |
| There was silence as the song Shine played. | There was silence as the song Shine played. |
| “There were lots of emotions, many people were crying, we were thinking of the 17 we lost,” said Florence Yared, a junior. | “There were lots of emotions, many people were crying, we were thinking of the 17 we lost,” said Florence Yared, a junior. |
| Banners of support from all over the world partly obscured the freshman building where most of the victims died, and according to Yared gave the survivors a lift as they walked out of their classes. | Banners of support from all over the world partly obscured the freshman building where most of the victims died, and according to Yared gave the survivors a lift as they walked out of their classes. |
| Yared said the mood of the students this morning was reflective. “It’s weird to think about because in our heads we have this idea what school is, and it’s not now that same thing for anyone,” she said. | Yared said the mood of the students this morning was reflective. “It’s weird to think about because in our heads we have this idea what school is, and it’s not now that same thing for anyone,” she said. |
| But, she said, that feeling contributed to determination she and her classmates felt about walking out and calling for changes to gun laws nationally. Last week, the Florida governor, Rick Scott, signed into a law a bill that armed some teachers and provided extra money for school security and mental health, while raising the age to buy firearms in Florida to 21. | But, she said, that feeling contributed to determination she and her classmates felt about walking out and calling for changes to gun laws nationally. Last week, the Florida governor, Rick Scott, signed into a law a bill that armed some teachers and provided extra money for school security and mental health, while raising the age to buy firearms in Florida to 21. |
| “It’s a start but we need more,” Yared said. | “It’s a start but we need more,” Yared said. |
| “There some things I don’t like about the bill, but there are other things that are good, like raising the age, a three-day waiting period, that’s a step in the right direction.” | “There some things I don’t like about the bill, but there are other things that are good, like raising the age, a three-day waiting period, that’s a step in the right direction.” |
| Demonstrators, ranging from small children to university students to teachers and parents, have shown their support for the protests in different ways. Some have walked out of class, while others link arms in the school hallway. At Cooper City High School in Florida, empty desks were arranged to memorialize the Parkland victims. | Demonstrators, ranging from small children to university students to teachers and parents, have shown their support for the protests in different ways. Some have walked out of class, while others link arms in the school hallway. At Cooper City High School in Florida, empty desks were arranged to memorialize the Parkland victims. |
| 14 desks and 3 podiums stand empty at Cooper City High School in remembrance of the 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. pic.twitter.com/OdnyKvStYG | 14 desks and 3 podiums stand empty at Cooper City High School in remembrance of the 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. pic.twitter.com/OdnyKvStYG |
| Our amazing BHS students stand with linked arms for a 17 min period of solidarity out of respect for Stoneman Douglas High School! What a stupendous show of support and truly beautiful behavior - impressive! #BPatriotProud #ENOUGH #MSDStrong pic.twitter.com/fsWsMX7LG4 | Our amazing BHS students stand with linked arms for a 17 min period of solidarity out of respect for Stoneman Douglas High School! What a stupendous show of support and truly beautiful behavior - impressive! #BPatriotProud #ENOUGH #MSDStrong pic.twitter.com/fsWsMX7LG4 |
| @bsudailynews pic.twitter.com/ziWw15vsdY | @bsudailynews pic.twitter.com/ziWw15vsdY |