March for our Lives: A reading roundup

At more than 800 sites worldwide, including Boise, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators joined students and teachers Saturday to protest gun violence, especially at schools.

Here’s a roundup from the March For Our Lives events, organized in the wake of the Feb. 14 mass shootings at a Parkland, Fla., high school:

In Boise, thousands of people gathered at the Statehouse Saturday, according to Michael Katz of the Idaho Statesman.

“There’s eighth-graders worried about going to school,” one of the student organizers, Centennial High School senior Gabby Martinez Zavalia, told Katz. “I don’t think that should be something that eighth-graders have to worry about, having an active shooter at their school.”

Our broadcast partners at KIVI TV also have footage from the Statehouse event.

“While there is debate over solutions to the problem of mass shootings in our country, we can all agree that things need to change,” organizers of the Boise event said in advance of Saturday’s event. “Enough is enough. The time is NOW to work TOGETHER to prevent these massacres from ever happening again.”

For more information, go to rally organizers’ Facebook page and Instagram page.

In Washington, D.C., hundreds of thousands of people crammed the streets near the White House and the U.S. Capitol. “So many demonstrators flooded the city — 500,000 were expected — that the crowd couldn’t move down Pennsylvania Avenue,” wrote Catherine Gewertz of Education Week, which has full coverage of the Washington event. The demonstrators followed a nine-block course of Pennsylvania Avenue used for presidential inaugurations, Gewertz wrote.

Beyond Washington, D.C., the New York Times has a wide-ranging roundup from March For Lives events from New York City to Anchorage, Alaska. “In Parkland, Fla., less than a mile from where the shooting took place last month, one protester’s eyes brimmed with tears, surrounded by the echoing chant, “Enough is enough!”

Some counterprotestors showed up at events. “In Boston, opposing groups of protesters shouted at one another before the police intervened,” the Times reported.

Beyond Saturday, the focus now turns to midterm elections. As Saturday’s demonstrations unfolded in every state, POLITICO writers Edward-Isaac Dovere and Elana Schor published a story looking at whether the events would translate to the polls. “If we don’t win the House, Trump is there for eight years,” former vice president and possible 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden said a recent private meeting among Democrats, as reported by POLITICO. “I’m serious. … So, no pressure.”

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]

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