Like a sunrise after a long night, yesterday’s march gave me renewed strength for the fight ahead. I’ll keep in it my heart even as Stormy Daniels blows the media away or whatever kookery Trump gets up to resets the news cycle.
Judging from the vitriol aimed at the high school shooting survivors on Twitter and other dank corners of social media, the gun-humpers are running scared. I hate that the kids are being harassed and disparaged by the type of scumbags who would threaten or mock traumatized children, but the desperation of the harassers is a good sign.
The sunrise photo above was taken by valued commenter Schlemazel in Minnesota prior to the local march. There are tons of photos below the fold — more from Schlemazel, plus photos from PaulW in Lakeland, FL; Humboldt in Humboldt Co., CA; Central Planning in Rochester, NY; Hellbastard in Moscow, ID; and Arrieve in NYC. Enjoy!
A teacher who drove an hour to be there with 30 students:
A young woman who showed up on her birthday — Schlemazel said the photo is blurry because the crowd was singing “Happy Birthday” to her, which is awesome:
A kid with a sign that makes the stakes clear:
Fantastically artistic signage:
Bundled up speakers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — those Florida kids aren’t used to that weather!
Central Planning sent this photo from the Rochester, NY march; the cops estimated about 5,000 attended. (Original photo was a nice panorama but I had to crop it because WordPress.)
Humboldt shared these photos from the Humboldt County march — the young ladies pictured coordinated it:
Hellbastard sent these photos from the Moscow, ID march:
Commenter arrieve shared these photos from the New York City march:
And finally, commenter PaulW sent these photos from the Lakeland, FL march:
Pretty good turnout for Polk County! Thanks everyone — for the photos, but most of all, for marching.
SiubhanDuinne
Great kids, great crowds, great signs, great photos! Thanks to all.
hilts
Deeply inspiring and uplifting! Hopefully, the momentum will carry through the 2018 Mid Terms and the Dems take back the House and maybe even the Senate.
Nice takedown of Jonathan Turley, Booman’s Wanker of the Day
h/t http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2018/3/24/11053/2818
Zinsky
Moscow, Idaho! Wow, I am shocked! My redneck, NRA-loving brother-in-law lives there. I’ll bet he was right in the mix of protesters (NOT!). I am surprised the the entire march wasn’t gunned down before they could walk a block! This is definitely progress!
Spanky
In case anyone needs reminding that these kids are really just kids, I found this on Emma4Change.
PS – Emma Gonzales’ mom is hot.
JPL
The Me Next sign gave me goosebumps, because it could be true. Enough is enough!
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
I was thinking this morning about that Dana Loesch (sp?) video in which she warns all kinds of anti-gun folks that “we’re coming for you.” Too late, Dana. Someone already came for these kids, and their response is, “Never again.”
debbie
All great photos, but that sunrise is glorious! Is there a better way to start a day than with a sunrise like that?
tamiasmin
No need to worry about these kids, Betty. They survived a horrible experience in their school, or they know that the same thing could happen to them as things now stand. Taunts from the gun crazies are child’s play by comparison. They seem to have a wide-awake understanding that they are the ones to deal with this insanity. And by all appearances, they are well prepared for the task. I have never admired any group of people more.
debbie
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
She’s got it backwards: We’re coming for her.
lamh36
A FOX NEWS POLL!!! Dems should NOT be afraid to run in gun control measures, but will they have the courage to do so?
geg6
I couldn’t make either the Pittsburgh march or the local Beaver County one due to a work commitment but I’m kind of astounded by both. Pittsburgh, which expected about 3000 and was organized by CAPA, the city’s arts magnet school, had 30,000, larger than even the Women’s March. And Beaver County’s march was expected to get several dozen high school kids from Beaver and some community activists from Aliquippa, ended up with several hundred, right smack dab in the middle of NRA bumper sticker land here in Western PA.
WereBear
I once lived in Lakeland. Glad to see that much of a turnout :)
glory b
No pics, but Pittsburgh estimate for the March was 3,500, 30,000 attended!
Also marches in Harrisburg, Erie, Scranton Beaver, Doylestown, etc.
A KDKA television repertor went up to an AR-15 open carry counter protester in Greensburg (in Westmoreland County, in Lamb’s district)and asked him if he was mocking the kids there and if so why. The gun humper didn’t respond, he walked away.
BruceFromOhio
It was a great turnout in Cleveland OH. Emotions ran high, and people are pissed. I hope it can be sustained to November.
TaMara (HFG)
@Spanky: That was adorable and made me love them even more. Shout out to their parents, too, for raising some amazing humans.
Amir Khalid
Reposting from previous thread:
Lyrebird
@Spanky: Thank you, that is beautiful, seeing them be kids!
and @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): thank you, too. I don’t read what that awful gun-violence publicist says or does, but I want the PAC to make ads out of the town hall she attended… I read of that counterprotester in AZ (lost link) who came armed with his military-grade assault weapon, saying, if the teens attacked him, he would fight back. What planet is he living on? Somehow he thinks some high school students standing on stage, reading names, making some speeches, and crying is going to cause him mortal harm?
May the change they (the teens) are bringing come soon!
arrieve
@JPL: Me too. I think that’s my favorite of all the photos I took.
Spanky
@Lyrebird:
I kinda wish that were the case, tbh.
japa21
So far today, Twitler has sent out 6 tweets. One honoring the French officer who gave himself up so that a hostage could be freed, okay tweet. One about the wall and how the Dems are betraying the DACA; false, but what’s new. Two chained about how happy he is with his legal team and how he hasn’t tried to change it and how Fake News is spreading lies; again totally false. And two honoring National Medal Of Honor Day and Greek Independence Day. The only tweet yesterday dealt with the situation in France.
Not one tweet about the marches. Apparently the NRA won’t let him praise them and he is somewhat smart enough to know attacking the marches would not be a good idea.
WaterGirl
@geg6: wow. 10x more than expected. I am blown away. No pun intended.
WaterGirl
@japa21: trump is somewhat smart enough to know that anything is not a good idea?
That’s crazy talk!
Spanky
Ah yes,and Jackie Corin’s reply to Li’l Marco.
(ETA typo fix)
NotMax
FYI.
donnah
The fact that Trump’s limo took a different path to Mar A Lago because protesters were out speaks volumes about his “courage” and his willingness to acknowlege the power of these kids. The Republicans and the NRA leadership are seriously worried, and with good reason. Kids will be supported and they are going to make a difference.
lamh36
From Stormy Daniels lawyer on twitter
Some folks seeing this as a fallback from the hype, but I see this as the lawyer letting folks know that CBS has it’s own agenda, so whatever they decide to show will be based on that agenda…but his agenda is in the best interest of this client and so if what CBS does choose to show isn’t “damning” that doesn’t mean there isn’t more there or more damning stuff that they’ve kept up their sleeves.
Baud
One thing I learned yesterday watching these kids is that the education I received sucked balls.
Spanky
@Baud: Their education should not happen to anyone.
OzarkHillbilly
Repeat from the previous thread:
The STL March yesterday was a little on the small side IMO (they said 10-15K, I thought closer to 5K but it was impossible for me to get a good view of the crowd in it’s entirety due to our route) due to the damp and cold weather but I had a good time dancing… I mean marching with the Funky Butt Brass Band.
Baud
@Spanky:
Well, everyone should have the school-provided education they got.
Not the cruel-world education they got, obviously.
Doug R
Of course the gun humpers are running scared, that’s why they bought guns in the first place.
69-78% DON’T own guns, we’re tired of those chickensh*t’s running things.
Amir Khalid
@Lyrebird:
That Arizona man is one of a cohort of Americans who were conned into buying guns they would have been better off without, and who are now afraid those expensive guns will somehow be confiscated. I feel only a little bit of pity for him.
JPL
@lamh36: Supposedly Shulkin is the next to go, and I’m not sure that will be enough to keep Stormy off the front page. I hope that tonight’s Sixty minutes is convincing, because it sure has been hyped.
Call the Midwife comes on at 8, and I plan on watching that even if Sixty Minutes airs late because of basketball. .
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@donnah: As someone noted on twitter,
the man who bragged he’d run into gunfire to save kids runs away from kids who lived through gunfire.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lamh36: The kid posted a pic on Facebook of herself and her colleagues in Jackson Square, guess the invasion of OR nurses has hit your fair city.
cosima
Thank you to everyone for marching and sharing photos!
sdhays
@japa21: I make it a point not to check Twitler’s feed, but only two of the tweets you describe sound like they were written by Lord Dollhands himself – obviously, the two whining about how the best lawyers are fighting over the chance to work for him but he’s happy with the D-listers that he currently has.
On a slighting different topic, it takes my breath away that the NRA is comfortable mocking these kids for being famous. I mean, sure, they’re sociopaths who, as Atrios says, would kill their parents for 5 minutes on Fox & Friends, but it amazes me that they have no one on staff that can tell them that mocking victims of gun violence reinforces the message that the NRA can’t be trusted on the issue of guns.
Sandy Hook made them cocky. They went with the strategy of “f*ck those liberal whiny parents” and it worked. They thought they had it all figured out. I hope by end of this, the NRA has to change its name, just like Trump buildings are quietly rebranding to get away from the Trump stench.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@lamh36: I agree with your take. And what I’ve seen of the guy on TV tells me he’s a calm and careful attorney, who knows his way around a courtroom. His conduct in interviews reminds me a good deal of one of the best trial lawyers I know.
lamh36
Lord Tomi Lehren is an idiot
Stupid ‘ish gon shoot herself in the …ya know what, let me shut my mouth ??????
Baud
@sdhays:
As did the 2016 election.
The Ancient Randonneur
@lamh36:
In that thread they’ve released the first photo.
sdhays
@Baud: That too.
StringOnAStick
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: I like his #basta hashtag, Italian for “enough!”.
lamh36
@?BillinGlendaleCA: yes i saw video on FB if folks marching in NOLA…was great to see
lamh36
Lyrebird
@Amir Khalid:
You are a more compassionate being than I am.
Especially if he’s among those that responded both in Arizona and in Florida to individuals posting their “I’m turning in my machine gun” videos on FB by threatening to torture the wives & daughters of the posters, my pity well is dry.
I’m glad that people like John and Adam have the temperament needed to read what is posted by that particular fringe, because I don’t.
cosima
(Aggregate) news page on my side of the pond says Zuckerberg has put full-page ads apologising in British newspapers. Has he done that in the US? It also has a story about Russia wanting to build a (literal) bridge to NK — how will that play out with Bolton & the OFC and their hate-war plans for NK?
Re: the photo — it was an obvious photoshop to me. And probably to the gun-humping person who posted it. That’s what virtual & real un-friending is for.
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
I need to post that on Facebook to taunt my Trumper “super Catholic” cousin — thanks!
Magda in Black
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
It seems Danas’ folks already “came for them” and oh my, aren’t the DanaVolk just flippin’ out at the reaction.
Bless their little snowflake hearts.
cosima
Sorry — my comment at 47 was meant to go on the next thread (Cole’s photoshop post).
raven
Athens, GA.
Crazy Times
The US government is quite happy selling weapons to brutal dictators, terrorists and export murder on a grand scale. Quite happy to give local law enforcement APC’s, grenade launchers and other weapons of war to use on its citizens. Yet they want to say a law abiding American cannot own a gun? That’s a tough circle to square. Besides, the police kill more people in this country than terrorists.
These student are being duped into marching to further the aims of the police and surveillance state. Look at the Orwellian police-state power grab in the legislation that is being introduced, it is absolutely frightening.
PaulWartenberg
Thank you for sharing.
Sorry that the turnout in Lakeland seems so small compared to everyone else’s. I think some of the locals went to the larger rally in Tampa (one hopes).
Still thinking though that this is a serious enough movement by the youth of America to make effective change. They are genuinely angry about having spent their entire childhoods living in fear of the NRA and the gun nuts, and they’re sick of it.
PaulWartenberg
@lamh36:
It’s a damn shame we didn’t have this back in 2016 when he was up for re-election. Now we gotta wait for him to either resign in shame now or get his ass kicked in 2022.
Doug R
@PaulWartenberg: We can always hope for an indictment.
sukabi
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): that video montage they showed at the March yesterday with loesch, Hannity, ECT. was straight up crazy. It looked like it was straight out of Starship Troopers, the propaganda videos in that movie.
Good for those kids. Great contrast.
SiubhanDuinne
NPR tells me that Joseph diGenova is not going to join Trump’s legal team after all.
Hahaha.
sukabi
@lamh36: do you have any idea what #basta means?
Not a tweeter and not going to join just to find out…
Betty Cracker
@Crazy Times: Fuck you for attempting to erase those kids’ agency. They’re smarter than you, braver than you and more aware of their circumstances than you’ll ever be. Crawl back into the hole you’ve dug with your own fear and paranoia, wanker.
Ruckus
@BruceFromOhio:
I don’t see any problem for keeping the momentum going. I went to the LA march and that crowd was fired up. Lots of small kids with parents, lots of young kids with signs, a few old farts sprinkled in here and there. For some reason people seem to get angry when you shoot their kids and the kids are fired up. The response from the crowd to the young speakers was fantastic and very enthusiastic. We had one speaker over 18, he was a survivor from Columbine. A group of young girls each had a sign of the major shootings over the last year and the number of dead, it really brought home the extent of the issue, to see all that in one place at one time, the numbers and it was just the major ones.
I wonder how many people personally know someone who was a victim or a survivor of a school or public shooting? I do.
No, this is not going away. The more that attention gets called to it the more it will harden the resolve of the people. And really the place that a lot of people want to get back to (which is after all a conservative position – revert to something in the past) is when we had guns but not gun humpers, guns but not weapons of war, guns but not open carry, guns but not 100 round magazines. Personally I’d like us to be like Australia or the UK, where guns are much, much more controlled, and the UK, where even most of the cops don’t carry guns.
I don’t know if we can put the genie back in the bottle but it shouldn’t be for lack of very vigorous trying. We have the numbers on our side, we have motivation, we just lack enough politicians with the stones to act.
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
How do we submit pics? My wife & I marched with the kids in Carbondale, IL, where I teach. The local high school kids organized and ran the whole thing. It was amazing. I’ve seen four gun incidents in the last five years at schools where I taught. Enough is enough .
SiubhanDuinne
@sukabi:
It’s Italian for “Enough!”
sukabi
@SiubhanDuinne: thank you ☺
Mnemosyne
@Crazy Times:
You certainly chose an appropriate nym, nutbar.
Cowgirl in the Sandi
@sukabi:
Do you have a link to the video montage??
Vheidi
@cosima: yes, in the ftfnyt today
Edit for typo
BruceFromOhio
@Ruckus: Thank you, and I agree it’s not going away. Yesterday (and today) have been very emotional, and it’s tough to sustain that over a long period.
HumboldtBlue
What I found interesting about the student speeches given in Arcata yesterday was that three of the speakers were foreign exchange students who were aghast at the levels of gun violence in the “land of the free.” One girl was from Thailand, one from Germany and one from India. They had a powerful and unique message delivered both as foreigners but also as students who are loving their time here and who are flabbergasted that we regulate the hell out of everything, except firearms.
HumboldtBlue
@The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion:
We emailed Betty at bettycrackerfl at gmail dot com
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
@HumboldtBlue: thank you.
HumboldtBlue
@The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion:
YW
Crazy Times
@Betty Cracker:
Wow, nice response. Fuck you for not caring that shootings in this country are minor compared to the wreckage we cause overseas. How many have we killed in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan etc etc etc. And fuck you for wanting to give the police more powers, more weapons and the right to arrest people who haven’t committed a crime. And finally, fuck you for not wanting a civilized dialog about these issues.
Central Planning
No panoramics? FYWP.
ETA: FYCT. Pie is delicious.
Skepticat
@PaulWartenberg: I think–and hope–the turnout in Lakeland was relatively small because everyone was in Washington, D.C., taking over.