Thousands of students walked out of classes across the United States on Friday, marking the 19th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School with a show of unity aimed at pressuring politicians to enact tighter gun restrictions.
Students from more than 2,600 schools and institutions were expected to leave their classes at 10.00 a.m. local time, organisers said. Many wore orange, a colour that has come to represent the movement against gun violence, as they observed a 13-second silence in honour of those killed at Columbine.
Waving placards with slogans including “No more gun violence” and “I should be worried about grades, not guns,” they walked out of school in cities including New York, Detroit and Washington.
Silent protest
Outside the White House, scores of young protesters sat in silence while they listened to the names of gun violence victims read aloud.
On April 20, 1999, two Columbine seniors rampaged through their school, killing 12 of their classmates and a teacher before committing suicide. Since then, mass shootings have occurred with shocking frequency across the United States.
In the latest gun violence to hit a high school, one person was wounded and a suspect was in custody after a shooting on Friday morning at Forest High School in Marion County, Florida, police said.
