March for Our Lives Crowds descend on DC for historic protest

March for Our Lives Crowds descend on DC for historic protest



Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world turned out for March For Our Lives events against g*n violence on Saturday in a coordinated global protest that was organized by the teenage survivors of the Parkland massacre.



The main event was held in Washington DC where survivors from Stoneman Douglas High School gave passionate speeches calling for g*n reform.



They were joined by a raft of stars including George and Amal Clooney, who donated $500,000 to the event, Jimmy Fallon, Steven Spielberg, Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus.



Another 800 events were held around the world for the same cause.



The DC march began at noon on Pennsylvania Avenue but large crowds had already formed by 8.30am, hours before the official event began. The crowd grew in size until an estimated 800,000 people were together.



Between noon and 3pm, 20 young speakers gave speeches and celebrity singers including Andra Day and Jennifer Hudson performed in front of the crowds. 





A satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe showed the massive crowd at the March For Our Lives rally in Washington, DC on Saturday.



Digital Globe called the nationwide demonstrations calling for g*n control, collectively, one of the biggest youth protests since the Vietnam era.



The first of the speakers in Washington DC was Cameron Kasky, one of the teenage survivors of the Parkland shooting.



He paid tribute to Nicholas Dworet, one of the victims, who would have turned 18 on Saturday had he not been killed.



'We hereby promise to fix the broken system we've been forced in to. Don't worry, we've got this.



'The people of this country now see past the lies. We have seen this narrative before. [But] the corrupt aren't manipulating the facts [anymore]. We know the truth.



'Shooting after shooting, people now see the one thing that they all had in common - the weapons,' he said.



David Hogg, one of the Stoneman Douglas survivors who has been at the forefront of the issue ever since, spoke confidently about the event on Saturday morning in an early interview with GMA.



'Today we are going to start a revolution.



'This is the beginning of a lifelong marathon not only for me but for my generation.



'We are sick and tired of the inaction here in Washington and around the country at different state capitals and different cities, of politicians that are owned by the NRA and not listening to the constituents of America.



'We are the children. We are making our voices heard and we will change America with or without these politicians and today is the beginning of that revolution,' he declared.



Later, in his own speech, he spoke of the 'cold shackles of corruption' which is gripping the NRA and slammed the government for not doing more.



'If you listen real close you can hear the people in power shaking.



'They've gotten used to being protective of their position, through the safety of inaction. Inaction is no longer safe. To that, we say, no more!' 



Hogg spoke of making g*n violence a 'voting issue' which will lead the primary elections.



'We are going to take this to every election to every state and every city.



'We are going to make sure the best people get in to run, not as politicians but as Americans,' he fumed.





Pointing to the Capitol, he added: 'This... is not cutting it. At the end of the speech, he told the crowd: 'I love you all. God bless you and God bless the United States of America'.



The final speech was the most compelling.



It was delivered by Emma Gonzalez, who was in Stoneman Douglas on February 14 when g*nman Nikolas Cruz stormed the building with an AR-15.



During the middle of her speech, Emma went silent for several minutes until she had been on stage for a total of 6 minutes and 20 seconds - the exact amount of time it took Cruz to murder 17 people and injure 15 more.



'Six minutes and 20 seconds... In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken, 15 were injured and everyone, absolutely everyone, in the Douglas community was forever altered,' she said.



'Everyone who was there understands. who has been touched by the cold grip of g*n violence understands. For us, long, tearful chaotic hours in the scorching afternoon sun were spent not knowing.



'No one understood the extent of what had happened. No one could believe that there were bodies in that building waiting to be identified for over a day.



'No one knew that the people who were missing had stopped breathing long before any of us even knew that a code red had been called. No one could comprehend the devastating aftermath or how far this would reach or where this would go.'