Students stage ‘lie-in’ protest outside the White House over gun laws in the wake of the Florida high shooting massacre
Groups of students from Washington DC staged the lie-in protest on Monday
They took turns lying on a road outside the White House for three minutes each
It is the same amount time 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz went on a firing spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida last week
Other students stood by holding signs that read ‘Am I next?’ and ‘Is Congress or the NRA making our laws?’
By EMILY CRANE
DAILYMAIL.COM
19 February 2018
Students are in the middle of a lie-in protest outside the White House over gun laws just days after 17 people were killed in the Florida high school shooting massacre.
Groups of students from Washington DC staged the protest on Monday on a road leading to the White House.
They took turns lying on the road for three minutes – the same amount of time 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz went on a firing spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week.
Other students stood by holding signs that read ‘Am I next?’ and ‘Is Congress or the NRA making our laws?’
It was organized by Teens For Gun Reform – a group created by local students following the deadly Florida shooting last week.
Protesters started the protest at about 12.30pm on President’s Day.
A Facebook post on the group’s page said the lie-in was meant to be a ‘representation of the victims of school shootings’.
‘By doing this, we will make a statement on the atrocities which have been committed due to the lack of gun control, and send a powerful message to our government that they must take action now,’ the group wrote.
Their lie-in protest comes as students staged walkouts, sit-ins and other protests on school campuses across the country in a bid to push lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws.
Thousands of students, parents and community members rallied on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, during the March for Action on Gun Violence.
Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High spoke passionately during the rally, pleading with lawmakers to change the nation’s gun laws.
One teen, Emma Gonzalez, angrily criticized politicians who take campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association, and challenged them to stop taking money.
‘We will be the last mass shooting,’ said Gonzalez, a senior at the high school who took cover on the floor of the auditorium as a shooter rampaged through the building.
She directly addressed President Donald Trump, reading out his tweet in response to the shooting and demanding to know how much the NRA had donated to his campaign.
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