Mayor de Bill Blasio, Borough President Eric Adams and Councilmember Jumaane Williams were a few of the elected officials who joined Brooklyn students in their demands for stricter gun laws.
Students from across the borough, the city and the country walked out of class Wednesday during National School Walkout Day, initiated in honor of the students who were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida a month ago. Mayor de Bill Blasio, Borough President Eric Adams and Councilmember Jumaane Williams were a few of the elected officials who joined Brooklyn students in their demands for stricter gun laws.
Mayor de Blasio showed his support for the students at Edward R. Murrow High School in Midwood.
"I appreciate you and I appreciate students all over this city and all over this country who are standing up for change. I have to help you understand one thing, in the decades and decades before this moment, we have never seen anything like what you are doing today," said de Blasio. "There's been a fight for change for a long time, but there's never been a more powerful movement than what the students of Brooklyn and New York City and this nation have done in these last few weeks."
According to city officials, more than 100,000 students participated in "Enough" walkout at hundreds of schools, reports NY Daily News. Various events unfolded all across the city to pay homage to the lives lost including walkouts, which lasted 17 minutes, and staged die-ins. In solidarity, Brooklyn Public Library arranged 17 empty desks in its grand lobby to honor the memory of each of the victims.
Councilmember Jumaane Williams showed his solidarity with the students at Brooklyn College Academy in Flatbush and Midwood High School.
At Brooklyn College Academy, over 100 students stood in silence for seventeen minutes, representing the seventeen students killed at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. At Midwood High School, hundreds of students knelt as the names and biographies of the victims were read, with the students repeating their stories one by one, in one voice.
"It is truly inspiring to see this generation rising up in protest, taking action on this issue that affects them directly. When they speak, our leaders must listen." said Councilmember Williams. "All across the country, these students are saying with one loud, clear voice that enough is enough. Elected officials have a moral responsibility to respond by standing up to the NRA and others who oppose progress in the areas of gun safety, just as these bold students have. From the mass shootings that shake our nation to the tragic, daily gun violence that plagues our streets from Florida to Brooklyn, we must all stand together to effect change."
In the afternoon, Borough President Eric Adams led a rally in Prospect Park where he was joined again by hordes of students.
"They want you to believe that this is a moment, but it's not. It's a movement. And it is so important that we allow young people to come and voice and show that they are very much a part of changing America," said Adams. "Don't believe the lie that the winds of change were blown by adults. Young people have always blown the direction of where the country and the globe is going to travel. So take a deep breath and say to the NRA and others, that we are going to end this senseless violence."
