Following Friday morning’s fatal mass shooting that took place in a Texas high school that left 10 people dead, a group of students marched to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office to demand legislation on gun control, but the Republican had the students arrested.
Eight members of Montgomery County Students for Gun Control marched to the U.S. Capitol on Friday afternoon where they staged a sit-in outside Ryan’s office demanding him to pass common-sense gun control legislation.
One of the students, 17-year-old Daniel Gelillo, talked to the Huffington Post and said the action was part of a response to Friday’s tragic shooting in Santa Fe high school in Texas.
The time for mobilization is now. It's time to put an end to this senseless violence once and for all. My friends were willing to put themselves on the line for this, so it's time to act.
I'm sure you'll hear more soon. #GunControlNow #EnoughIsEnough pic.twitter.com/cMorKnGQk4— Daniel Gelillo (@Vote_For_Dan) May 18, 2018
“This is an issue we all care about deeply, and we’re all incredibly frustrated and saddened by the losses suffered in Texas today,” Gelillo told HuffPost. “We want to see change, and we want to see it sooner rather than later.”
He added, “We should not live in a country where we have to go to school in fear of the possibility of looking down the barrel of a rifle.”
David Hogg, a student who survived the mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, school, praised the students for protesting:
I love these kids almost as much as @SpeakerRyan loves arresting students practicing their First Amendment rights to peacefully protest. #AllowTheVote https://t.co/PXvmfbrJpl
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) May 18, 2018
Take a look at the video clip below of the protest and the arrests:
Sit in @ House Office Building – @moco4guncontro https://t.co/Uu3TLLEYDJ
— Nate Tinbite (@NateTinbite) May 18, 2018
