Hundreds of Portland students skipped class on Wednesday, 5 March 2023 and walked downtown to protest gun violence. Holding signs with statistics about gun violence and messages like “Kids over Guns,” students took turns speaking passionately and asking lawmakers and elected officials to do something.
“I care that I have to think about going to school and dying; I have to think about my brother going to school and dying,” said one protesting student who didn’t state their name. “I have to think about not coming home today.”
The student asked: “Why do you only care that it should be your right to own a gun? Why do you not care that it should be our right to live?”
Students Demand Action had planned a national walkout where young people from all over the country marched.
After a deadly shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, the issue of gun violence in schools is back on the national stage.
Nico Sardi, a sophomore at Northwest Academy, walked with other students from Portland schools. He wasn’t sure at first if he should leave school on Wednesday.
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“One side of me was saying, “what will this do?” Sardi said.
“Another side of me was very infuriated by the lack of recognition and change that the government is making.”
Portland police say that a few weeks ago shooting in North Portland killed three people, including two high school students from Portland.
Raine Conley, who is in the eighth grade at Northwest Academy in Portland, and other students from Lincoln High School and the Metropolitan Learning Center helped plan the Portland walkout.
FOX 12 Oregon also Shared a Tweet Related to this news, which is given below-
“How many more have to die before US government officials take action to fight gun violence and significantly restrict access to firearms?” Conley said as students responded with cheers.
The students marched from Terry Schrunk Plaza through downtown Portland to City Hall. Evan Gray-Williams is a junior at Northwest Academy and was also one of the student speakers.
“We need to act because we know how much this matters, and we know how much we matter,” Gray-Williams said.
Source- Oregon Public Broadcasting Department.
