19 years ago, on April 19, at 11:20 am, two students made their way into the Columbine High School cafeteria with propane bombs. After their bombs failed to go off, they began shooting people. 49 minutes later, they had killed 12 students, 1 teacher, and themselves.

On Friday, the 19th anniversary of the tragic Columbine shooting, students walked out of school as yet another protest of the increase of gun violence in our country.

It is reported by organizers that over 2,600 walkouts were planned, each beginning at 10 am.

In Washington DC, students stood together in front of the White House, conducting a 19 minute long moment of silence in honor of the 19 years that have passed since the Columbine shooting. After this, they marched to the Capitol.

In Washington Square Park in New York City, students participated in a “die-in”: a demonstration in which they lied on the ground as if they were dead bodies, their bodies outlined in chalk.

However, in Columbine, students took a different approach. Classes were not held, instead they had a day out of the classroom, a custom that has been practiced since the year after the massacre. Students dedicated their day to the community, participating in community service acts.

In some places, school administrations have begun to take a different stance to the recent protests. Many school administrators have began encouraging students to participate in walkouts and moments of silence.

“While you walkout at 10am,” Carly Novell, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglass High School shooting, wrote on Twitter, “remember the victims. The students. The fear. Remember that this is repeated. Remember that we need change.”

Sources

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