Students participating in the walkout at Middletown High School
MID-HUDSON – Students in several school districts in Hudson Valley
counties this morning participated in the student walkouts in memory of
the 15 students and two teachers who were murdered by a gunman in Parkland,
Florida last month.
Schools were locked down and guarded by police as the students spent 17
minutes outside to remember those who were killed and to call for restrictions
on assault weapons.
No visitors were allowed on campuses as the students rallied.
Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D, NY-17) called for the gun violence to stop
and praised the students who called on Washington to do something.
“Another life cannot be lost by a gun violence incident. We have
to take action, whether it is background checks or raising the age, we
know what we have to do. Let’s do it now,” she said.
State Senate Democratic Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D, Yonkers),
lent her support to the “bright young students” who organized
the walkouts.
“The gun epidemic is a public health crisis and a safety risk for
every student, and to ignore their efforts would be unconscionable,”
she said. “They understand the gravity of the situation in a way
many in power do not and are fighting to make their schools and communities
safe for everyone.”
Stewart-Cousins said she will “continue to fight to pass common-sense
gun laws in the state legislature.”
