Student and activist David Hogg
I love the kids at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and I’m sending them my thoughts and prayers. My thoughts are with them, and I pray they have the strength to continue pushing for sensible gun reform.
No one is going to shut up these students and their families as has happened with the Santa Fe students here in Texas.
Here’s what the students and families in Parkland are up to this week:
Publix, South Florida’s biggest supermarket chain, donated $670,000 to gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam, who calls himself a “proud NRA sellout.” But the company hasn’t donated any money to the fund set up to pay medical bills for the 17 Parkland students who were injured in the Valentine’s Day shooting at the Parkland high school.
To protest, David Hogg, one of the most vocal of the Parkland students, called for “die-ins” at Publix markets. Hogg, along with dozens of students and parents, did just that earlier this week in a Publix in neighboring Coral Springs. Among the protesters was Fred Guttenberg, who’s daughter was slaughtered in the Parkland massacre and who came to Dallas to speak at the protests against the NRA convention here.
As a result of the protest, the supermarket chain decided to suspend political contributions.
The day of the protest, the retired CEO sold $10 million in Publix stock, which the company announed was unrelated to the protest.
Parkland parents have created at political action committee to target politicians funded by the NRA called Families vs Assault Rifles PAC Inc. So far, they have a Facebook page, and are in the process of hiring professional staff.
Jeff Kasky, a parent of a Douglas H.S. survivor and founder of the PAC, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “We are going to go up against NRA candidates in every meaningful race in the country.”
Just to make sure the Families vs Assault Rifles PAC knows: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the top recipient of NRA money. He faces Beto O’Rourke in the November election.
— David Taffet
