News
How Parkland Students Are Remembering Their Friends On The Anniversary Of The Shooting
Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Last February, a gunman killed 17 people in Parkland, setting off a renewed effort to combat gun violence across the country. On the shooting's first anniversary, Parkland students and families are largely mourning privately, the Associated Press reported, though some of them have taken to Twitter to honor their friends and demand change.
According to NPR, several events were scheduled in Parkland to commemorate the shooting's anniversary. Marjory Stoneman Douglas had a nonacademic half day, and some of the school's students and staff reportedly participated in a day of service organized by the Broward County School Board. The organizers of the anti-gun violence March for Our Lives, meanwhile, told NPR that they would take some time to grieve during the anniversary, and perhaps spend some time away from social media.
Not all of the Parkland survivors and families went dark on Twitter, however. Manuel Oliver — the father of Joaquin "Guac" Oliver, one of the students killed in Parkland last year — held a press conference about his art to pay tribute to his son, while several Parkland survivors shared how they were feeling on the anniversary and honored their classmates.
Aalayah Eastmond
Eastmond, who testified in front of the Senate about gun laws during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing, paid tribute to the friends she lost during the shooting.
Lauren Hogg
Lauren Hogg and her brother, David Hogg, both became gun control activists in the wake of the Parkland massacre.
Kyra Parrow
Many states strengthened their gun control laws in the year since Parkland, although the federal Congress hasn't passed any major gun control legislation in decades.
Jaclyn Corin
Corin is one of several Parkland survivors who, after the shooting, co-founded the March for Our Lives to advocate for stronger gun laws.
Cameron Kasky
On the one-year anniversary of Parkland, Kasky wrote a series of tweets encouraging people to openly express their love for one another, because "you never know when you're saying your last goodbye."
Alex Wind
Wind, another March for Our Lives co-founder, used the one-year anniversary of Parkland to advocate for HR 8, a piece of gun control legislation currently under debate in the House of Representatives. The bill, which would require background checks for all gun purchases, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee the day before the anniversary.
Kai Koerber
Koerber is one of several black Parkland survivors who, in March, pushed back against proposals to place armed security officers in schools, arguing that it would make black students feel less, not more, safe on campus. He too paid tribute to the friends and peers that he lost in the shooting.
In addition to all of the tweets from individual Parkland students, the Twitter account for March for Our Lives paid tribute to the shooting victims the day before the one-year anniversary.
"We will be going dark for four days from February 14th through the 17th," the organization tweeted. "During that time, if past trends continue, around 400 people in the U.S. will likely be shot to death."
Seth Millstein contributed to this report.
