Thousands flood Washington, DC for A March For Our Lives

Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2018, to protest for stricter gun control laws. The event, March for Our Lives, was led by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in the wake of a mass shooting that left 17 dead.
Their goal was to support candidates in the 2018 midterm elections who would push for stricter gun laws, universal background checks, and a ban on assault weapons. They also wanted to vote out politicians accepting donations from the National Rifle Association, which spends millions every year lobbying for gun rights in Congress.
Global sophomore Nelli Smith “[wants] to think that this march will impact legislation, but [doesn’t] trust Republican Congressmen to defy their donors.”
PHS physics teacher Daniel Savino emphasizes that “change can be realized if the hype of walkouts, marches, and letter writing translate into voting.” Savino joined a group of 55 people and rode a bus organized by Christina Nanof from the town of Poolesville. He stated that the logistics couldn’t have been easier, although getting back to the bus after the event was an issue as Constitution Avenue was packed with people.
While the rally formally began at noon, Pennsylvania Avenue was packed with people many hours before the event. Protesters came via Metro, bus, or rideshare such as Lyft, which offered $15 vouchers for those traveling to the march. They filled the streets from 3rd street to 12th street, spreading into surrounding Constitution Avenue as well. The stage was set up on 3rd street and large TVs broadcasted live footage along the entire path.
Original forecasts predicted 500,000 protesters, about the amount that showed up for the Women’s March in 2017. However, with over 200,000 Metro rides by 1pm, over half a million people were packed into seven blocks of Pennsylvania Ave. Estimates now record that around 800,000 people were in Washington, D.C., as well as thousands more in sister marches around the country. Police barricaded off other streets, as well as cleared paths through the crowd for emergencies.
Savino recalled how emotionally overwhelmed he felt, saying that “when [he] stood on a concrete planter and looked up and down Constitution Avenue, and could see nothing but shoulder to shoulder humans, [he] knew that the movement was not just a social media craze.”
Protesters chanted slogans like “vote them out!” in between speeches by youth influencers. Those speaking included survivors of the Parkland shooting and well-known faces on Twitter such as David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez and Delaney Tarr, as well as students who were affected by gun violence from other cities around the nation, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.. Other speakers included Yolanda King, the granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Montgomery County Student Member of the Board of Education, Matt Post.
The march featured many celebrity performances. Artists such as Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, and Lin-Manuel Miranda performed songs inspiring hope and change. Many other celebrities were seen among the protesters in D.C., including Selena Gomez, Zendaya, and Jimmy Fallon. Other celebrities were active on social media, using hashtags like #NeverAgain and #EnoughisEnough to demonstrate their stances on gun issues.