Last Updated Mar 14, 2018 10:20 AM EDT
Students at thousands of schools across the country walked out of class Wednesday morning to protest gun violence. The 17-minute walkout is a tribute to the 17 victims who were fatally shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last month.
According to the Say #Enough website, which compiles the stories of shooting victims and advocates for change, there will be more than 3,000 walkouts held in communities coast to coast and in Puerto Rico. Students participating in the movement left or were leaving their classes at 10 a.m. in their respective time zone.
Students from schools in Washington D.C. and further afield marched to Capitol Hill, extending their protest, while inside lawmakers grilled officials from the ATF and FBI on how they proposed to tackle safety in schools in the wake of the school massacre. They gathered where just the day before, 7,000 pairs of children’s shoes were placed outside Capitol Hill to represent the children killed by guns since Sandy Hook.
Snapchat’s “Snap Map” feature showed a vast number of walkouts Wednesday, with students snsharing their experiences at gatherings around the country.
In Broward County, Florida, where the Parkland massacre took place, public schools superintendent Robert Runcie said students who walk out of class would not be disciplined for leaving. He said teachers should make this a “teachable moment.”
CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz reports Stoneman Douglas students walked out to the football field. School officials said they want students to exercise their First Amendment rights in a safe environment that’s supervised by adults.
However, some schools across the county, including a group in Pennsylvania, hesitated about participating in Wednesday’s walkout.
Since the shooting on Valentine’s Day, Florida lawmakers passed and Gov. Rick Scott signed a new state gun law for the first time in 22 years, but student activists want to see changes nationwide.
On Tuesday, prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty for the accused gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz.
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