March For Our Lives rally in West Melbourne draws 300 in protest against gun violence
WEST MELBOURNE — Shouts of "Protect our children, not our guns" rose along Minton Road in West Melbourne early Saturday afternoon as community members marched in blue and orange, waving signs pleading for gun reform following multiple recent mass shootings.
About 300 local activists and community members gathered at West Melbourne Community Park on Saturday to protest gun violence and ask for change following the May 24 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two adults were killed.
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"In light of the horrible tragedies of Uvalde, Texas and in Buffalo, New York, we at March for Our Lives have decided that it is imperative for us to take to the streets again and march for our lives," said Karly Hudson, the organizer of Saturday's rally.
It wasn't Hudson's first time organizing a March for Our Lives event. She organized one in 2018 following the shooting that February at a Broward County high school in Parkland, when she was still a student at Melbourne High School. The march in 2018 over Eau Gallie Causeway drew about 3,000 participants.
She said it was the community's role to help enact change.
"I want each of you to look at the person next to you on the left and on the right, and look at the person behind you and maybe in front of you. Wave at them and give them a smile, because they're going to end up being your teammate at the end of this," she said. "We are all here for the same reason — to end gun violence together. And we are going to meet each other in times like this."
Saturday's even hosted multiple speakers, including Jamie Tworkowski, founder of mental health nonprofit To Write Love on Her Arms; Brevard Public Schools school board member Jennifer Jenkins; and local students Amelia Curran, 17, and Addisyn Mayer, 8.
Organizations such as Moms Demand Action, Counselors for Change, People's Party and Families for Safe Schools were also in attendance.
As a nonpartisan event, Hudson said she invited every member of the Brevard Public Schools school board, local and state representatives and Sheriff Wayne Ivey. Jenkins was the only school board member to attend. Ivey and the representatives did not respond to her invites.
Marches across the state
At least two dozen cities across Florida participated in the march over the weekend, including Pensacola, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Fort Myers, Port St. Lucie, St. Augustine, Flagler Beach, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Parkland. There were also marches elsewhere across the nation, including on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The marches come after two mass shootings in less than 10 days — the one in Uvalde carried out by an 18-year-old, and another 10 days previously, when another 18-year-old gunman open fired at a supermarket in Buffalo and killed 10 Black shoppers and workers in what officials have described as a hate crime.
The Uvalde shooting was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., 10 years ago in December.
Since the Sandy Hook shooting, Congress has not passed any gun control legislation.
"Citizens of Brevard are tired of the bloodshed," Hudson said in a statement. "Children should not bear the majority of responsibility to keep themselves safe from a shooter while at school. Voters should not face fears of being gunned down in public because their elected representatives failed to stand up to a brutal business."
Brevard: 'We cannot and will not stop fighting'
In West Melbourne, Hudson said it was important to continually bring attention to the issue of gun violence in the hopes of bringing change.
"Politicians continually turn a blind eye to the tens of thousands of Americans dying of gun violence each year because they're just playing a political game with our lives," she said. "People become apathetic because shootings keep happening and nothing is done. But we cannot and will not stop fighting."
Curran, who just completed her sophomore year at Melbourne High, recounted multiple instances of fearing for her life in Brevard schools, including during a recent shelter-in-place order at her high school.
"I had to run into one of the bathroom stalls, and I stood on the (toilet) seat so no one could see me," Curran said.
Growing up in an era where gun violence is commonplace has been incredibly difficult, she said.
"A popping chip bag or a firework in the distance is enough to bring a crowd of hundreds of bustling students to a dead silence," she said. "This should not be the new normal, though it unfortunately is."
Addisyn, age 8, knew the protocol for hiding during a shooting before entering grade school.
"I was 4 in a VPK (voluntary prekindergarten education) classroom when I had my first lockdown drill to ensure my safety against the hands of a gunman," she said. "I learned to lock the door, turn off the lights and hide in a classroom before I learned to read."
Jenkins, who attended the 2018 march as concerned parent, expressed frustration with the lack of change over the past four years, saying the safety of children shouldn't be up for debate.
"Every countywide and statewide elected official in Brevard County was invited to attend here today. Not one is here. Why?" she said. "What could possibly be less partisan than keeping our children safe?"
She added that despite political differences, elected officials should "at the minimum ... agree we need to reduce senseless gun violence."
Tworkowski, who has spent about 20 years advocating for mental health awareness and resources, said gun safety is a key part of discussions about mental health that can no longer be ignored.
"Nobody protests, nobody objects when you talk about mental health, and then I started to learn about how mental health and gun violence relate," he said, adding that more than half of gun deaths are suicides, a statistic reflected by the CDC's 2020 data on gun-related deaths. "Quite simply, if it was harder to get a gun, if it was harder for someone who struggles with mental illness to get a gun, we would see lives saved."
He said while he advocates for discussions of mental health, the conversations following shootings often ignore suicides and ways to prevent access to guns.
Addisyn, who will turn 9 next month and is preparing to enter fourth grade in August, ended her speech with a question: "What if the kids that are asking for change are the answer to your thoughts and prayers, and you're just not listening to us?"
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 300 rally for gun reform at March For Our Lives rally in W. Melbourne
