At schools across the country today, students are getting up from their desks and walking out when the clock strikes 10 a.m. They're participating in the National School Walkout, part of the movement that has taken hold among students to call for action to end gun violence.
Today marks 19 years since in Littleton, Colo., in which two high school students shot and killed thirteen people.
It's also been a little more than two months since in Parkland, Fla.
The walkout begins at 10 a.m. in each time zone, and organizers said that over 2,600 walkouts were planned 鈥� at least one in each state. In some places, students faced potential disciplinary action for participating.
In Washington, D.C. students in front of the White House with signs. And at 10 a.m., they began the walkout with , in remembrance of the Columbine massacre.
19 Minutes of Silence.
— Esther Ciammachilli馃帣馃摶 (@EstherCinDC)
Then, with chants against the National Rifle Association, students began marching to the U.S. Capitol.
The March to the Capitol has begun.
— Esther Ciammachilli馃帣馃摶 (@EstherCinDC)
Student protestors chant 鈥淣ot one more鈥� and 鈥淓nd gun violence鈥� as they make their way down 15th St. toward the Capitol.
— Esther Ciammachilli馃帣馃摶 (@EstherCinDC)
Student Noor Mobarek created a 鈥渘on-comprehensive鈥� list of 197 names of all the people killed by guns in schools since Columbine.
— Esther Ciammachilli馃帣馃摶 (@EstherCinDC)
Students in New York City held a "die-in" in Washington Square Park, their bodies outlined in chalk.
The Day of Action marking the 19th anniversary of the Columbine School shooting began w a 鈥渄ie-in.鈥� Students as young as 11 are flooding into Washington Square Park chanting, 鈥淗ey, hey, ho, ho, the NRA has got to go.鈥� The organizers are a group of about 40 high schoolers.
— Beenish Ahmed (@beenishfahmed)
Students from across NYC are walking out if school to join in a demonstration at Washington Square Park that鈥檚 entirely student organized.
— Beenish Ahmed (@beenishfahmed)
In Nashville, Tenn., students carried signs and marched to the city's Public Square, near that state's capitol.
Chants and songs, en route to a rally at Public Square.
— Tony Gonzalez (@TGonzalez)
Chants are anti-NRA, pro gun control, and peppered with 鈥渟tudent power.鈥�
— Tony Gonzalez (@TGonzalez)
鈥淲e鈥檙e here today because we were scared 鈥� but we鈥檝e decided that is over.鈥�
— Tony Gonzalez (@TGonzalez)
At Butler High School in Matthews, N.C., a suburb of Charlotte, students gathered in the bleachers.
Here鈥檚 the crowd at Butler High. Student walked out of first period at 10 a.m., read the names of the Columbine victims, and held a moment of silence
— Nick de la Canal (@nickdelacanal)
In Pittsburgh, students stood in silence in the city's Market Square.
Pittsburgh CAPA students standing in silence in Market Square on . They stood for 13 minutes on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shootings in memory of the 13 people who died there.
— Sarah Schneider (@sarahschni)
On Friday morning, Forest High School in Ocala, Fla., was after a student there was shot in the ankle. Students there had been expected to , but a school board member that the walkouts had been canceled district-wide after the incident.
At Alpine High School in West Texas, a small group of students took part in the walkout. The school was the site of , in which a freshman girl shot another student before turning the gun on herself.
Alpine students who participated in the walkout without being signed out by a parents "are facing 3 days of DAEP - a form of suspension - as well as losing National Honor Society status," Marfa Public Radio's Sally Beauvais.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDA5NTM4MTIyMDE0MTg3NDc2MTVlZjdmNQ001))
At Alpine High - a school with a population of almost 300 - a handful of students have joined the
— Carlos E. Morales (@celizario)
One Alpine High student protesting today is dressed as Wonder Woman. Her sign: 鈥淚f the adults won鈥檛 save us, we鈥檒l be our own heroes鈥�
— Carlos E. Morales (@celizario)
