WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Washington D.C. on Saturday in the March for Our Lives, a massive protest of gun violence in the wake of the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The Saturday rally in the capital, organized primarily by students from Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was the latest in a series of recent student-led protests held nationwide. More than 800 similar events were held in cities around the world.

Debate over gun violence and gun control in the United States intensified in February, after a 19-year-old man opened fire at Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 people.

Crowds began to fill Pennsylvania Avenue early Saturday morning, but the rally did not officially start until noon. Among the demonstrators were more than 100 Syracuse University students who traveled to Washington via bus early Saturday morning. The Student Association organized the trip, which left Syracuse at about 2 a.m. and will leave the capital at about 7 p.m. Saturday night.

Codie Yan | Staff Photographer

Kenny Buckner, a junior finance and information technology dual major at SU, came to the rally in D.C. to hear young people share their stories. He knew the rally would be powerful before he attended, but he said he didn’t expect the extent to which it would affect him until afterward.

“I think (the D.C. March for Our Lives) is very powerful in the sense that so many people from different areas were able to come together and discuss this issue,” Buckner said. “So many voices and stories were told today. I don’t think I could have gotten that anywhere else.”

Buckner said one of his favorite parts was hearing from 11-year-old Naomi Wadler, who brought attention to black girls who are killed in gun violence and don’t have their stories heard.

In addition to Wadler, celebrities and Stoneman Douglas High School students delivered speeches and performances until about 3 p.m., on a stage set up near the U.S. Capitol Building.

Cameron Kasky, a Stoneman Douglas High School student, introduced the rally by reading the names of the 17 people who were killed in the shooting. Nicholas Dworet, one of the students who died, would’ve turned 18 the day of the rally, Kasky said.

Other students, activists and celebrities such as Lin-Manuel Miranda and Demi Lovato also made appearances at the event.

Buckner said he was proud to see a lot of young people on stage Saturday.

“Everybody was young and building this new form of revolution, which not only gives me hope for the future, but motivates me to do more within my community,” Buckner said.

Though it was labeled the March for Our Lives, the event’s organizers scrapped the plan to march through Washington after officials estimated more than 500,000 people would attend. Demonstrators instead stood on Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and White House during the rally.

Codie Yan | Staff Photographer

The crowd closest to the the stage grew especially cramped. Some of the protesters in front of the stage had difficulty even moving their arms, and exiting the crowd was nearly impossible. Barricades and police blocked all exits on Pennsylvania Avenue except at three points.

Organizers reserved an area in front of the stage for Stoneman Douglas High School students, families and teachers. Some Parkland community members had trouble nudging through the crowd and into the reserved area, and tensions between protesters and organizers at times became heated.

When students became stuck in the tight crowd, demonstrators began to push each other out of the way and chant “Let Douglas through!”

Julie Monteleone, who traveled to the rally from Massachusetts, said she still appreciated the protest despite the crowd.

“Even though it’s kind of stressful, it’s kind of also amazing that so many people are out here,” she said.

Kathy Chapman, a demonstrator, said she decided to attend the protest because she has granddaughters in middle and high school. She said she hates the thought of them having to go to a school where they have to participate in crisis drills.

She said a protest of gun violence was overdue.

Codie Yan | Staff Photographer

“I’ve been hoping that after one of these shootings, for years, that somebody would do this,” Chapman said. “I think it’s amazing that it’s the high school students themselves that have made this happen.”

A major focus of the rally was on voting in upcoming elections and encouraging young people to register to vote. About a hundred volunteers were at the event specifically to help 18-year-olds or those about to turn 18 register to vote.

“A lot of the revolutions we’ve seen in this country have been led by young people and so I think this is just another start,” Buckner said.

Published on March 24, 2018 at 6:40 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann