Florida: Teens Plan Rallies, Walkouts Against Trump, NRA

Students across the United States are organizing rallies as well as a national walkout, in support of stronger gun laws, after accused teen gunman Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

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Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivors David Hogg, Alex Wind, Cameron Kasky, Jacqueline Coren and Emma Gonzalez detailed their plans for a “March For Our Lives” rally, on Sunday, in a television interview.

“What we’re trying to do here [with] ‘March For Our Lives’ is say, the adult politicians have been playing around while my generation has been losing our lives,” Kasky said during an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation.

The White House countered that U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a “listening session” for some of the survivors of the shooting.

“At the end of the day, this isn’t a red and blue thing. This isn’t Democrats or Republicans. This is about everybody and how we are begging for our lives,” he added. “We need to make real change here and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

The five teenagers, who survived Wednesday’s school shooting in Florida, said they are also planning a march on Washington, D.C. The march, the group said, is to demand stricter gun laws. It will be held on March 24.

“This cannot be [our] normal. This can be changed and it will be changed. And anybody who tells you that it can’t is buying into the facade of this being created by the people who have our blood on their hands,” Kasky explained.

During an interview with ABC News’ This Week, Gonzalez stressed the importance of students participating in the marches. “The kids who need to take part in this are kids, everyday kids just like us,” she said. “All students should realize that a school shooting could happen anywhere.”

The teen also slammed Trump, Rubio and Scott for supporting the National Rifle Association. “Now is the time to get on the right side of this, because this is not something that we are going to let sweep under the carpet.”

Fifteen-year-old Lane Murdock, one of the students joining the campaign for the national walkout, said: “I felt like it was our time to take a stand,” adding “we’re the ones in these schools, we’re the ones who are having shooters come into our classrooms and our spaces.”

Murdock has, so far, collected over 50,000 signature pledges from students who vowed to take part in the walkout scheduled for April 20.