Students at STEM School Highlands Ranch, site of a school shooting that killed 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo and wounded eight others, stormed out of a candlelight vigil when lawmakers turned the somber moment into a political event.
According to Fox-31 Denver, students walked out shortly after Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Jason Crow – both Democrats – spoke.
The students began chanting “mental health” after leaving, a clear indication that they think improving mental health is the greater key to ending school shootings. Particularly this one, as the suspect has been reported to be a transgender male who also suffered from depression.
Really Sad
“It was really sad,” one parent told KDVR. “All those kids wanted was to be heard as part of the grieving process and I think they had that right. I don’t think it should have been turned into something political about gun control.”
“It should have been about something to remember their friend and classmate and schoolmate and let them get a chance to grieve,” she added.
Students at a vigil for the STEM School shooting in Highlands Ranch reportedly walked out of the event after Democrat politicians Jason Crow and Michael Bennet made remarks and students said the tragedy was being politicized.
Outside, students chanted: “Mental health!” pic.twitter.com/sQpTfAUWCs
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) May 9, 2019
‘Straight Into Gun Control’
The Daily Wire reports that another speaker, Laura Reeves of Moms Demand Action, hyper-politicized the event as well, and may have served as the last straw for the students.
Moms Demand Action is a far-far-left organization that doctors numbers about ‘gun violence’ for the media.
Reeves, at an event meant to honor the fallen student – a young man who had planned to join the Marine Corps – blasted the NRA, encouraged fundraising for gun control causes, and advocated for the election of Democrat politicians.
Moms Demand Action’s Laura Reeves heavily politicizes the STEM School Highlands Ranch vigil:
-Blames NRA
-Demonizes pro-gun politicians
-Advocates working to elect Democrats
-Tells students to register voters, stage walkouts, raise $$$, & use social media to promote gun control pic.twitter.com/YlY3VaXWp8— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) May 9, 2019
“It just turned straight into gun control,” one parent objected. “‘We need to do this and we’re not doing this and I’m in Washington fighting for this’ and like, that’s not what this is about.”
President Trump has advocated for stronger efforts on mental health screenings as a means for preventing violence in schools
“We want to strengthen our mental health laws and procedures,” he previously remarked at a cabinet meeting. “So important. I think it’s probably the most underrated element of what we’re doing, but it might be — it might be the most important.”
He has also championed STOP School Violence grants, saying they help “local schools and police departments to hire more officers, train more teachers, and address early warning signs of mental illness.”
