Students, community to march in support of national protest against gun violence
A national protest on gun control has arrived in Mount Pleasant and will culminate with a March For Our Lives event at 1p.m. March 24 in Island Park, 331 N. Main St.
March For Our Lives is a nationwide movement dedicated to ending school shootings and gun violence. While the victims of the recent shooting on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida will be marching in Washington, D.C. on March 24, CMU students have planned their own demonstration in Mount Pleasant.
Following the Parkland shooting, a small group of CMU students decided to take action in their community and started planning the demonstration just a few days after the Parkland shooting.
Roseville sophomore Sam Zeeryp is one of the organizers of the march. “We are marching on (March 24) to get the word out about gun control and protect our youth,” he said. “We want to help make a change.”
Just two weeks after the students began planning the march, James Eric Davis Jr., a Illinois sophomore, shot and killed his parents, police believe, which put the entire campus on lockdown for hours until he was caught.
Since the fatal shooting occurred, students planning the march have only become more dedicated to their cause, said Portage senior Brandon Darsow, a member of the group organizing the event.
“When we started planning this, we never thought it could happen in our own community,” he said. “But now that is has, we have to do our part to ensure this type of thing never happens again.”
All members of the Mount Pleasant community are encouraged to attend.
