Students walk out of class to protest gun violence
Students from all over Butte County left their campuses for the national Walkout March against gun violence in downtown Chico Wednesday morning.
Students from nearby schools Chico High School, Inspire School of Arts and Sciences, Bidwell Junior High, Butte College and other campuses joined Chico State students in the march, which first began on Chico State campus. This protest joined many others across the country, with students protesting recent shootings and calling for action against school shootings.
Students from Chico High School join the downtown plaza protest #NoMoreSilence @theorion_news pic.twitter.com/gUyH4gb5lh
— Natalie Hanson (@NatalieH_Orion) March 14, 2018
Chico State students first marched around campus starting at 10 a.m., then arrived first in the downtown plaza. Chico High School and other schools’ students soon joined, and all protestors then marched to Trinity United Methodist Church.
Students shouted, “Hey-hey, ho-ho, the NRA has got to go,” “End gun violence, no more silence” and “Not one more.”
@theorion_news It takes several lanes and multiple crossings to get all the students walking out today to cross the streets of Chico. #NotOneMore pic.twitter.com/ISNcwBIkVs
— Josh Cozine (@joshcozine) March 14, 2018
The church provided a hall for the students to use due to weather conditions. Rain Scher Chico community activist spoke before the floor was open to students from Chico High and Inspire to share their feelings and statements.
“We are today. And we will decide tomorrow,” said Kailyn Erb, who had led the march from Chico State.
#NotOneMore https://t.co/vpo6gDja5M
— The Orion (@theorion_news) March 14, 2018
The Inspire dance team even performed an interpretative, provocative dance choreographed to a spoken word piece, also protesting gun violence.
After most students left by noon to return to their campuses, more members of the community, including some candidates running for office in the district, gave statements in the hall.
Check back for the full story.
Jeff Green // Mar 15, 2018 at 12:06 pm
“NRA has got to go”
I wonder what the Fake News Orion would say if students protested the ACLU. Both the NRA and ACLU defend the constitutional rights of Americans, so why is the NRA evil and the ACLU isn’t?
Elias Denny // Mar 15, 2018 at 10:57 am
Instead of blaming guns for this violence we should blame the actual cause, rampant mental illness in our country. As highlighted by yesterday’s suicide on campus, people in this country are greatly unhappy and feel like they have no where to go or no one to talk to. Instead of shouting “Hey-hey, ho-ho, the NRA has got to go” which tries to silence the opinion of a group of people (something I never agree with). WE should have a real conversation on mental health issues and question why someone would want to hurt people, not trying to outlaw the item they intend to do it with.
I would feel much more comfortable if we were allowed to have conceal and carry on campus so we can protect ourselves individually. The most disturbing thing to me about the recent Florida shooting is the fbi was warned multiple times, this man had made threats was mentally ill and got reported multiple times. They fbi did nothing https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-statement-on-the-shooting-in-parkland-florida. This man was obviously mentally ill, and they did nothing to stop him, how can we blame this all on guns when so many elements of our system have failed.