A month after the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., tens of thousands of students around the country staged a walkout Wednesday morning to protest gun violence.
The national walkout started at 10 am local time in each time zone and lasted 17 minutes, to commemorating each of the victims shot last month.
“They’re not walking out of school, they’re walking into the classroom of life,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who helped organized a rally to coincide with the walkout.
The rallies came as the U.S. House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill Wednesday meant to stop gun violence in schools. The legislation grants $50 million annual to fund training and another $25 million for things like metal detectors.
Students are also planning a nationwide “March for Life” on Saturday, March 24.
President Joe Biden has met with new House Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House. Johnson was joined by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries as they discussed Biden's request for nearly $106 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other national security needs.
The new leader of one of the chambers of Congress that will certify the winner of next year's presidential election helped spearhead the attempt to overturn the last one, raising alarms that Republicans could try to subvert the will of the voters if they remain in power despite safeguards enacted after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
